Day 14: Nationale feestdag van België

Ypres to Mons (106km)

Today, the 21^st of July was Belgian National Day. Isabelle had warned me that due to this, most places would be closed today. As she had predicted, most things were closed, probably something that I wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late without her warning. As it was, I duly changed my route for the day to ensure that I spent most of the day in France, thus avoiding any of the national day issues.

The target for the day was the Belgian city of Mons, but due to the shape of the border, I was easily able to spend the majority of the day in France without adding any kilometres onto the journey. The detour into France also meant that I would be passing through Roubaix, a city steeped in cycling history due to the famous Paris-Roubaix race. It turned out that I passed through or near Roubaix without even noticing, it was still nice to be near it I guess. I had seamlessly crossed the border back into France, at this stage I was zig zagging between the two countries so regularly that I was never that sure which one I was in, the good news was that I was now far enough south, that even the Belgian side was now speaking French. I had one scary incident where I almost ventured onto a motorway (cycling is not allowed on the motorway), this was quickly rectified and I was on my way gain.

I knew I was definitely back into France when I spotted a café that was open by a canal, perfect timing for lunch. The food was good, but this was certainly not fast food, the staff and customers were in absolutely no rush, simply enjoying the sun. I remembered that I was also in absolutely no rush, so I too, just sat and enjoyed the sun (I did avoid the wine that the other customers were enjoying). Over lunch, I scanned the map for my route for the rest of the day. It turned out that I was to take a cycle path along the canal that I was having lunch next, if my calculations were correct, then this path would take me all the way to Mons.

This turned out to be correct and the bike path was excellent. It followed the canal for about 60km the whole way to Mons, dropping me off right by the hotel that I’d booked for the night. I had a big dinner in the restaurant, including a finale of Belgian waffles, I fitting way to spend an enjoyable Belgian National Day.