Battling headwinds along the canal: camping at a former 13th century Abbey and 17th century castle - Riding In My Grandfather's WW1 Footsteps - CycleBlaze
Battling headwinds along the canal: camping at a former 13th century Abbey and 17th century castle
We left Camping GT and about 10 km down the road we came upon a village with a wonderful patisserie. It reminded us of our memories of France and eating fine pastries.
The winds are very strong and we will battle it all day as it is against us. We are pushing as hard as we can and the highest speed we can achieve is about 12 km/hr. We are determined to reach a camping spot by the village of Walems, but it is tempting to stop sooner.
We stopped for a break to see the delightful historic town of Lier. The square is beautiful and provides a wonderful display of Flemish architecture. We wandered through the town - a worthwhile detour.
Belgian Patisseries are wonderful - great pastries, homemade chocolates, cakes...and best of all, free coffee (freshly ground). We like this side of Belgium as grocery stores and specialty stores often offer free espresso quality coffee.
When we saw this horse, we wondered if it was unwell as it was lying quite still. Then suddenly it went crazy having a dirt bath. It really was having fun.
De Hoeve ice cream - delicious. As we rode by we noticed the pretty courtyard with dozens of tables and chairs. We didn't realize that it was an ice cream place until we rode in. People drive their cars and ride their bikes from all over to enjoy this ice cream.
Some of the buildings around the town square in Lier - liked the small balcony on the corner and could imagine someone standing there watching the scene centuries ago.
The grounds are quite extensive filled with hiking trails and some farm animals. Roosendaal has an interesting history - it was an Abbey in the 1300's, then a castle in the 1700's - most was destroyed during WW1 - and now has been maintained with a restaurant, campground (tenters only!) and a site to visit the remains of its grand buildings. Parst of the original wall remain, an archaeological dig exposes original buildings, sculptures and art installations are here for the summer and one of the manor houses now hosts groups for special events. It is a special place.
