Biking in Belgium

Thursday in Brugge was to be our rest day before the madness of Paris, but the temptation to explore such a beautiful city was just too much. We did succeed in resting the feet, choosing to explore on two wheels instead of two legs. It might not have been a rest, but it was a very welcome change to wear out different muscles.

We started the day with a scrummy European breakfast, prepared in our apartment by Tine. While we lazed in bed, she came into the kitchen and prepared us a feast – baguettes (still warm), bread rolls, super fresh croissants and pain au chocolats (how did she know my weakness?), ham, cheese, cereal, yoghurt, kiwifruit (yes they were from NZ) and of course a bar of chocolate on each plate. She insisted that we took the leftovers for lunch and there was enough to make a lovely picnic.

Tine has a selection of bikes downstairs for guests to use. Matt’s legs weren’t long enough to reach the pedals on any of the bikes, so the rest of us biked to the nearest bike rental shop with Matt sitting on the carrier of Andy’s bike. Once Matt was kitted out with a Matt sized bike, we were off exploring the streets and canals of Brugge. Andy and I had gel seats, but they were no defence against the cobbled streets of the old city. At the edge of the old city we had to wait at the bridge over the canal for a barge to pass through the lock. Once the bridge had been lowered and the road was back in place, we were able to continue our adventure.

We cycled along another canal to the village of Damme, about 6km from Brugge. Damme was very quaint, but much quieter than Brugge. The market square was a lovely spot for a long relax and our leftovers picnic. The bike back was harder going as we had a head wind, but the kids were motivated by the promise of waffles when they made it back to Brugge. We got our second Belgian cache on the ride back to Brugge – they are more challenging as the description and hints are no use at all! It felt strange to be biking without helmets here – no one wears bike helmets. We were surprised that even in ‘Elf and Safety mad Britain, there are no cycle helmets. We felt safer cycling in Brugge than we would have sharing the roads with double decker buses in London, but still slightly vulnerable.

It was tempting to drag the kids out again after a rest in the afternoon, but we resisted. Instead we took turns to go out and have a final explore. Here are a few pics from our explorations, getting lost in tiny back streets. Tomorrow we are off to Paris for more exciting adventures.