It took 40 days to ship our motorhome from Montevideo to Antwerp, Belgium but the waiting was over on December 29th. And we have to say, it worked out pretty well despite a lot of worrying that it wouldn’t. We haven’t noted anything stolen and there is no damage. But a couple of days afterward when I went up on the roof to clean the solar panels, I could see that someone was up there with their very greasy boots and hands trying to lift the hatch and the Maxx fan cover. Fortunately, they didn’t get inside. Shipping is risky but you can’t go anywhere if you don’t take that chance.
The final week of waiting was made much better because of the generosity of our friends Mark & Liesbet. They suggested a great campground on Lake Berlare not far from Antwerp so we had a place all set up to go to once the truck was back in our hands. Then, as her parents actually have a spare place there, she even asked them if we could use that house to stay in while we waited and they kindly agreed. Having the house gave us a base to spend the Christmas holiday, cook our own food and we rented a car so we had wheels.
After having a great Christmas day touring Bruges, we followed that up with Brussels and then Ghent, all within a radius of the house. Beautiful Belgian cities that I already described on the last post. Then Liesbet also put us in touch with her cousin Wim and his wife Griet and he happens to have his own small brewery. So what better way to get to know Belgian beers than a tasting of 7 of his brews followed by a typical Belgian dinner at their house. Really fun. It’s great to meet the locals!
We got up early on the 29th and drove to the port ready to get the truck. The agent was late, then our release paperwork didn’t include the motorcycle, then the truck actually wasn’t even unloaded off the ship yet so we were a bit stressed out with the agent telling us we might have to wait another day. We needed to return the rental car the following day. So we decided to wait longer and finally, they pulled our truck around. But when Jon jumped in to start it, the starter was fried, so there was no starting it. Waiting outside the gate, I told the agent and he sent the port personnel right over and with a quick tow to get the truck rolling, Jon could pop the clutch and be on his way out the gate. I followed in the rental car and we got propane & diesel without turning the truck off and then got to the campground. Phew! Now, Jon had a project for the next day to install the spare starter that we carry! We spent the rest of the day getting groceries because we had to ship the truck completely empty of food, putting the truck back together and unpacking all of the bags that we’d been carrying around in Montevideo, Cairo, 2 liveaboard diving boats, buses, planes, Amsterdam, the train to Antwerp, the rental car, the little house…..
The following morning, the sun actually was shining and it was a perfect day to replace a starter. Jon attacked the project and I was the runner and the wrench holder, I was able to get a replacement bolt in town for the one that broke trying to free it from the turbo and the guy even gave it to me as a new years present.
On NYE, we took a walk around the lake for the last time and had Liesbet’s parents Agnes & Jacques over for Belgian pastries. Then we got an invite from David & Patty from the camper next door to come for champagne & tiramisu and so we had a really nice evening together. We had this great feeling that everything was complete and we were ready to start out the new year by hitting the road.
On Jan 1, we drove to the town of Mons in Belgium, headed south because the weather was more wintery than we were comfortable with. I feel like we saw some really beautiful cities in Belgium, Bruges being by far our favorite. As Mark & Liesbet had told us though, it is a small, flat and relatively built up country so we wouldn’t find much for open space and we agree. We’re glad we got to know it some.
Crossing in to France, we drove through snow flurries and gray skies across rolling, open countryside and agricultural land to stop in the city of Troyes. We spent a couple of days there touring around gawking at half timber buildings, huge churches and squares and bought a museum pass to see some impressive art & textiles. We’ve noticed that museums, restaurants and churches are on the chilly side as they don’t heat them too much! This ancient city became wealthy on the textile industry and the French brand Lacoste comes from Troyes along with others. Wealthy people meant beautiful buildings, art and also stained glass. The tourist info says that 40% of the world’s stained glass resides in Troyes, much of it in it’s churches. The cathedral, even for us non religious types, is so impressive. We really had a nice time in Troyes and it was hard to leave. We only get 90 days out of every 180 on a rolling calendar in Schengen countries which makes up almost all of Europe. So we are going to have to shuffle things around and also move at a faster pace than we feel like, then leave for periods to reset the days. It is exciting to think of the places we could go during those resets though!!
We kept moving south in France through towns like Chateauroux and Uzerche making our way to the Dordogne valley which is even more scenic. We started seeing the first of many beautiful towns with towering castles above them. Rocamadour was a big hit for us. We could hike all over and the buildings hanging on the cliff were lovely. It really is great to be able to camp right there in spots set aside by the town for just that. All of the services you need are there too and about half of the time they’re free. We really got in to seeing these picturesque towns and hitting the trails on their outskirts. We’ve even had our bikes out a couple of times. People have been really kind to us, despite everything. There is so much greatness around the world and we’ve seen and experienced so much of it. So much more on our list. Walking through the villages, looking in the shop windows, I get a good feeling here. The Christmas decorations were more about snow scenes and animals, made of natural materials rather than plastic. There are a lot of art galleries selling old & new. Antique shops are in, not out. There is a quiet peace. It feels real. I appreciate it.
We are loving the food that we can get in Europe with so much more variety. The driving has been easy so far, the roads are not too narrow and we are generally able to go wherever we’ve wanted to which is nice. France has really impressed us with it’s beautiful scenery and it’s funny how traveling at this time of year means there are hardly any people anywhere! When we visited the castle at Castlenaud, we were literally the only people in the whole building for like 3 hours. Everyone tells us that this will completely change with the season but for now, we can appreciate this benefit to traveling in winter even though we’re not in our favorite shorts & shirt attire.
After getting a good feel for the Dordogne Valley, we drove up & over the Pyrenees to Ivan’s little village so we could hang out for a bit. We were last there Sept 2021 and it felt like we just stepped right back in. Except this time with our very own truck! It felt really cool. So much has happened since then- so much traveling, together. It’s unfortunate that we arrived just in time for a stretch of crap weather but we still got in great visiting time, nice walks with breaks of sun. Ivan drove us all over exploring hilltop villages and old castles, menu del dia lunches, and even all the way to Andorra to buy a new Maxx Fan. The food and drink were always flowing as we cooked for each other and we got a chance to meet some of his neighbors too. We always have a great time together.
We also ordered a few packages to fix all the broken things like the solar panel that burned up in Uruguay, new Starlink because the old one broke, winch for the motorcycle, an endless list it feels like.
After 11 days, we had to move on because the clock is ticking. We said goodbye for now and headed to the town of Arguedas, near to the entrance of a park called Bardenas Reales which has a little bit of scenery reminiscent of the American SW. Although it was small, it was nice to see. On the night we arrived, we camped in an RV lot under some historical cliff dwellings. People lived in these until the 1960’s! Because they’re currently being renovated, we couldn’t go up to see them closely.
We plan to keep moving south and seeing as much as we can to make each day count.
