Sunday, July
01, 2018
“And then there is the most
dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want
on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”
Randy Komisar
It was a great
feeling to walk beside the river Meuse (French), la Meuse (Walloon) or Maas
(Dutch), a major European river. It rises in France and flows through Belgium
and the Netherlands before running into the North Sea through the
Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta after a total length of 925 km (575 miles). The sun
became stronger and, with the first day of July, the long-awaited time of
summer holidays arrived in Central Europe.
From my
sidewalk, I could see some people waiting for a ride to start directly beside
the river. I don't know the meaning of the yellow vests, maybe the sign of
this group... In more dangerous Taiwan, no one wears them and here it is
nice that some people think about their own safety on the road. Watching
them I missed my own bike very much...
The Bridge of Jambes (also called "Bridge of Meuse") is a spanning the Meuse between the suburb of Jambes (right bank) and the foot of the Citadel of Namur (left bank). Probably dating from the Roman era it has been rebuilt and modified several times. The bridge is 145 meters long, it currently has seven arches, including the central one which is wider.
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People waiting for a Bike ride. The Citadelle of Namur can be
seen on the right Mountain...
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The Bridge of Jambes (also called "Bridge of Meuse") is a spanning the Meuse between the suburb of Jambes (right bank) and the foot of the Citadel of Namur (left bank). Probably dating from the Roman era it has been rebuilt and modified several times. The bridge is 145 meters long, it currently has seven arches, including the central one which is wider.
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Jambes Bridge (Pont de Jambes)
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Later I will
cross the bridge several times but now I was still looking for the youth
hostel. I followed the road along the river and passed the Grand Casino de
Namur, a place out of my world, and the Barbaros Mosquée de Namur, a
religion out of my world. Here I asked a young men and he showed me the
way through a very green park with lots of trees giving me a nice shadow
from the burning sun.
Finally, I
stood at the doors of the Felicien Rops Youth Hostel (Auberge de Jeunesse
de Namur, Avenue Félicien Rops 8, 5000 Namur, tel.: +32 81 22 36 88). It
is situated along the banks of the Meuse in an old manor house. It is
named after painter Felicien Rops (1833-1898) who once set up a workshop in this same
building.
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Felicien Rops Youth Hostel
(Auberge de Jeunesse de Namur,
Avenue Félicien Rops 8, 5000 Namur)
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I had to haul
my luggage several steps until I could check in without any problems. The only
difficulty was that I could use the room after 5:00 in the afternoon and it was
late morning (around 10:00). Some hours to explore but what to do with my
sports bag on wheels?
I've asked the
lady if I could store my sports bag somewhere and she gave me a key to the
basement - the grey door on the lower left corner on the photo. So I took
out a shirt of my bag and put it in the messenger bag. Then I moved it
downstairs in a room full of bikes and luggage from other guests.
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My Sports Bag on Wheels in the Basement of the Youth Hostel
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Just that the
lady gave me the key was a big 'trust' point for this youth hostel which I
really liked a lot. Some hotel would not trust the guest and send someone with
you or develop a system which would make sure that it's your luggage.
With a
reservation for the new room, or I should rather write bed, I had a lot of time
and ‘freedom’ to explore the city of Namur – watch out, I am coming!
(to be
continued)
Disclaimer: I traveled to Belgium by myself, I am not
sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling
an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome!
