The great Belgian waffle hunt: Country-bagging at its worst

July 17, 2013

Crossing into country number two. I was planning on holding up the number of fingers to correspond to the number of countries I had reached at the entrance sign for each country, but this dream was soon quashed by Luxembourgs refusal to have an entrance sign, and the realisation that I do not have 100 fingers.

It was about 5pm on Wednesday when I crossed my first border into Belgium. This was to be a very brief visit, country-bagging (the art of travelling through a country merely to tick it off the list) at its worst. I could forgive myself this one though, as I have cycled all over Belgium before and had no time for sightseeing this time around. I did, however, want to have at least one truely authentic Belgian experience, and consequently most of my time in the country turned into the great Belgian waffle hunt.

I could have easily found some in Floreville, the town that greeted me across the border, but, failing to appreciate the lateness of the hour, I pedalled on expecting more waffle opportunities to come my way. To my delight, I had a cycle path to ride on. To my dismay, the air was full of flies which bombarded me as I rode. I put this down to the sudden shift from the primarily cropland of France to cattle farming in Belgium.

The map I had from the tourist information centre in Floreville suggested the town of Tintigny was the only place en route where I would find a supermarket so I headed there only to find nothing there except a small shop which was closed. Having spent some time looking around the town it was now after seven and with plans to leave Belgium before the shops opened in the morning my quest for waffles was looking bleak. Of course I could have tried a restaurant which might have resulted in my obtaining some actual authentic Belgian waffles instead of the nasty cheap supermarket packaged versions I was seeking, but there were a couple of problems with that. Firstly, waffles are not usually served at dinner time and secondly, I'm not a millionaire.

But just outside Tintigny was a sign for an 'Intermarche' supermarket just five minutes up the road. That sign did turn out to be a bit misleading because it was based on the assumption that you are travelling by car, which I was not. Consequently it was about twenty-five minutes before the red sign of Intermarche appeared over the horizon like an oasis in the desert. I saw a man walking out of the front doors, it must still be open! I was to have my Belgian waffles after all! Waffle time! Woop woop! Waffle time! But as I walked up to the automatic sliding doors, automatically slide they did not. I looked at the opening hours in the window; 8:00 - 19:30. I looked at the time; 19:32. I dropped to my knees and let out a blood curling "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Damn it Belgium, damn it.

BELGIUM SUMMARY:

Time: 15 hours.

Distance: 55km

Waffles consumed: None.

Best Things: Cycle paths!

Worst Things: Flies.

Top Touring Tip: Buy your waffles early to avoid disappointment.

17/07/13 - 127km (40km in Belgium)

18/07/13 - 162km (15km in Belgium)

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 378 km (235 miles)

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