Beauraing to Oakamoor (444 miles)

Headed off later than expected as the caretaker manager overslept. Clearly no one else was staying. Was reminded of “The Shinning” as I walked down the empty corridors with bedroom doors ajar into the deserted dining room. When he arrives, he’s still getting dressed, talks about last night’s football & then disappears to get bread. So the 8 o’clock start becomes 9 o’clock. That said, I had time. Its 180 miles to Calais but I wanted to take in some of the country roads in South Belgium (rather than ubiquitous motorway). I follow the French/Belgium border to Lille. The countryside is as on my way outward journey through France. Rolling farmland. Perhaps a little less on the industrial scale with a few more hedgerows. Long straight roads cut across landscapes linking together small hamlets that look like they have changed little over the years. From Lille I hopped on the motorway to Dunkerque/Calais. Felt like everyone else was also (from every corner of Europe). Add in roadworks on the final stretch (that le Shuttle had texted me about) and you probably wouldn’t want to be chasing a booked time. I arrived an hour early so caught an earlier train. This time there were three bikes. One was a quietly spoken bloke from Dorset on a thunderous Ducati piled high with camping gear (“ I have been to the Czech Republic to visit the biker cave & onto Romania..”) & the other a young cockney on a day trip from Kent (“my bike broke down 30 miles from Calais..”). Onto the M20 back to a very grey & damp UK. Traffic got steadily worse, driving standards deteriorated & the random stop/start procession reminded me I was back. Final tally 2933 miles – that’s silly mileage. Great trip though...