Day 4 – Nassogne 🇧🇪 to Luxembourg City 🇱🇺

Now after the heights of breakfast, spirits fell quickly. It’s wet outside. We’re talking Belgian Grand Prix 1998 wet (seriously, YouTube, I promise you won’t be disappointed), or if you prefer a biblical/literary reference Noah’s Arc wet. I’m sure Jay from The Inbetweeners would find another way to describe just how wet it was. It’s 20km to re-discover the Eurovelo following yesterday’s diversion, with 600ft of climbing in the first 3 miles. Perfect, a good opportunity to warm up right? Absolutely, but what goes up must come down and before I know it, I’m throwing on a merino base layer from the bag and trying the breathe life into my freezing fingers – it’s June!

Now, picking up on the meandering Eurovelo theme, and in recognition of the conditions, I again play Google Maps roulette to trim down the distance in the rain. A gamble too far and before I know it, I’m on such a rough surface that I’ve damage the fancy new pannier set on my bike – having to stop in the rain to perform a bush-repair with rubber puncture repair kit and gaffer tape. It holds so I can return to the task of mentally cursing Sundar Pichai and berating myself for not bloody learning from previous experience.  With all the delays, poor route selection and general dithering I cover just 28 miles before lunch. However, the day is about to pick up and a wonderful afternoon is in store. Why you ask? We’re about to cross the border into Luxembourg!

I’m still at the stage where crossing any border excites me (does the novelty ever truly pass?) particularly under my own steam. Last year, following a classic Maid of the Mist/Hornblower mix up (one leaves from the Canadian side, the other from the US) , Jo and I crossed the mighty Niagara river over Rainbow Bridge from Canada into the US and recall the quiet satisfaction in crossing that invisible divisive line (shortly followed by the very visible immigration and customs offices at the end of the bridge!).

Again, a year earlier, the same feeling as I crossed Israeli/Jordanian border with a couple of good mates, (in altogether sterner conditions!). Thankfully in Europe, the borders are porous, but this doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.