Eight Cheeses and 300 Meters of Belgium 🇧🇪

Day 51: Charleville-Mézières to Givet, France (57 miles / 1,700 ft.)

We had perhaps the most comfortable night’s sleep of our entire trip at Feyyaz and Arielle’s home. Perfect beds, perfect temperature, and wonderful hospitality. There is something comforting about reconnecting with old friends.

We woke to a beautiful breakfast featuring Turkish coffee, as Feyyaz is Turkish, soft-boiled eggs served in little egg cups, warm croissants, and toasted baguettes. I even had a little more success using the special tool to cut the tops off our eggs! We dipped buttered toast sprinkled with smoked salt and pepper into the soft yolks. Delicious!

One new discovery was toasted baguette with honey, goat cheese, and black pepper. What a perfect combination! Although croissants are practically a symbol of France, their ancestor, the kipferl, came from Austria. The crescent-shaped pastry eventually made its way to France, where French bakers transformed it into the buttery, flaky croissant we know today. Another little cultural lesson over breakfast!

Before leaving, we drove to the local fromagerie, or cheese shop. We selected two special cheeses, one made with sheep’s milk and the other with cow’s milk, and Arielle generously bought us a little wheel of goat cheese.

Today also marked a couple of important milestones. First, this is officially my longest (duriation) bicycle tour ever, surpassing the 50-day, 3,500-mile ride across the United States that Pat and I completed in 1991. Second, we set a new personal record for the amount of cheese carried on a bicycle tour: EIGHT different cheeses! Well, make that seven. One didn’t survive the journey and had developed some rather suspicious mold. For the record books, we also managed to ride nearly two hours before our first bathroom break. Quite a day for personal achievements!

We packed our bags and rolled out around 10:15, heading north toward Givet. The forecast wasn’t encouraging, with temperatures around 49°F and drizzle turning into steady rain. Great weather for Belgian cyclocross, but not quite as enjoyable when touring with loaded bicycles!

We chose the shorter route, following much of the beautiful Meuse River along the Voie Verte Trans-Ardennes, a former railway and riverside cycling route winding through the Ardennes. The river twisted through steep, forested hills, passing little villages, old stone houses, and churches tucked into the valley. Even in the rain, the autumn colors were beautiful. We enjoyed the smell of fallen leaves and wood smoke drifting from fireplaces as people warmed their homes.

As we approached Givet, the weather improved just enough to tempt us away from the river. We climbed into the hills to a wooden observation tower overlooking the Meuse Valley and the limestone countryside known as the Calestienne. It was a rocky little detour, but the views made it worthwhile. We even crossed into Belgium for about 300 meters before returning to France. We’re not counting that as officially leaving France just yet!

Givet is an interesting little border town, nearly surrounded by Belgium, with the Meuse River flowing directly through its center. Towering above the town is the impressive Fort de Charlemont, a fortress begun in the 1550s under Emperor Charles V. Its strategic position made Givet an important military stronghold for centuries, and the fortifications were later strengthened under Louis XIV’s famous military engineer, Vauban.

We followed one of my little self-designed sightseeing loops through Givet, admiring the churches, old streets, and fortress high above the river. Getting around was a little chaotic because the main bridge was under construction, disrupting the normal traffic patterns.

Since we were already wet, we decided to get our grocery shopping done before checking into our apartment. We stopped at NETTO and loaded up with a rotisserie chicken, microwave rice, a sweet potato, and a bag of salad. Then, around 3:30, we finally settled into our beautiful, clean apartment and enjoyed one of the best dinners we’ve made on this trip, or maybe on any bicycle trip!

Now we’re winding down, catching up on FindPenguins, and preparing to tackle our rather impressive cheese collection. Perhaps a little chocolate to finish the evening.

Tomorrow we head to Namur, Belgium. We stayed there with a Warmshowers host back in 2018, but unfortunately they’re busy this time, so we’ve booked an apartment. We’re looking forward to returning to a familiar city and finally making our official departure from France!Read more