Today’s ride felt long, at 82 km from La-Roche-en-Arenne to Dinant. Most of the day was on Eurovelo 5 and the route meandered through the countryside. The first part of the day was along the L’Ourthe canal.

We found a bike shop and bought a new seat post for Jenny at Marche-en-Famenne – this made the bike a lot more comfortable to ride. We then stopped for a coffee at the central square. They didn’t have any pastries, so Jenny bought a custard tart at a Carrefour (favourite French supermarket chain) on the way out of town. We found Eurovelo 5 soon afterwards and spent the rest of the day on it – however it was not very good, as it zig zagged on ad-hoc country roads.

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It was very hot in the afternoon, and we had quite a few long uphill climbs. There were lots of flies, probably attracted to cows in the fields we were passing.

The last 10 km into Dinant was mostly downhill (fulfilling a wish expressed by Esther). Dinant surprised me, as it was so beautiful alongside the river. Many people were eating and drinking at riverside cafes.. The bike path went all alongside the river. Our hotel is above a pub just outside of town, also alongside the river and next to a very iconic rock formation (the Rock Bayard). The hotel is great, except that it doesn’t have proper bike parking – so Kris had to lug the bikes up a steep staircase to store them in an small courtyard. We had our first Karmeliet Triple beer here, which became a firm favourite for the rest of the trip.

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