Day 2 - Luxembourg

Saturday 24th June 2017

It is a misty and grey morning with drizzle in the air, but we are up and off early in time for our 07:20 check-in at Eurotunnel. 

For anyone who is wondering how bikes travel through the tunnel, here you go

Select first gear and park up against the ledge
They tend to hold all the bikes in a group so there are usually a number of fellow bike tourists to natter to during the 35 minutes transit. With all the admin completed on the English side we ride straight out onto the roads of Northern France.

Our first destination is the lovely hilltop town of Cassel near to the French-Belgian border for breakfast.


Cassel marketplace (google image)
Most years I visit the Belgian Buell club Twinpower for their annual bash, and Cassel is where we gather to meet up for a scenic ride to the rally site.

So we stop for the traditional croque-monsieur and coffee at the usual cafe.

The weather is looking a lot better as the morning wears on. We leave Cassel and get onto the motorway for the 200 mile ride to Luxembourg. Belgian motorways are free to use but almost invariably horrible to ride on. So we weave around the potholes for few hours before turning off onto the N4 which heads south into the Ardennes.

Usual cafe in Bastogne
 I guess we are creatures of habit
Memento of the Battle of the Bulge
because our next stop is in the marketplace in Bastogne of WWII fame. I have been through here maybe a dozen times, and I always stop at the same cafe for coffee. They have even installed secure bike parking with helmet and gear locker just for us. 

Bastogne was largely destroyed near the end of WWII when the Americans came through with all guns blazing. Surprisingly the inhabitants of this corner of Belgium celebrate this liberation from the Nazis by placing left-over tanks all over the place. In 2014 at the start of our everlasting tour Mick and I followed a "tank trail" route supplied by our host Neil from AEAventures. German, British and American tanks in various states of disrepair litter the whole region.

We are soon in Luxembourg where the road surface changes immediately from pretty appalling to absolutely superb.

Camping at High Chapparal

Our destination is the High Chapparal, a biker-oriented bar bistro in the magnificently named Heiderscheidergrund, Luxembourg.

It is run by the ever cheerful Ed who hails from the Netherlands. I've been coming here for years and it has never failed me. Great campsite on the banks of the River Sure, great weissbier from Erdinger, and wonderful spare ribs from pigs.



We soon have the tents up. We have quite a few fellow campers this time, including one who has brought his own Jack Daniels.

Interesting neighbours
 Before long we are in full relaxo mode and enjoying a beer on the terrace. The ribs are on order, the weather is great and we don't have a care in the world. 

The adventure has truly begun.

Local honey schnapps and Jack Daniels honey liqueur round off the evening and we are all tucked up in bed by 10pm.






Weissbier on the HC terrace

Happy as a pig in s**t

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