Bouillon part one!

We are getting to the end of summertime. This summer hasn’t been a very sunny one. Eighty hours less sunlight in the summer months is a lot. When there are sunny days I always want to use these opportunities to get the maximum out of it. I made a plan to ride to the Belgian border and visit the city of Bouillon. I booked a camping spot in Poupehan to spend some time close to nature and take some beautiful landscape shots.

I made all my camping gear ready and installed everything on my Italian horse. My Moto Guzzi V7 rides like a dream and I feel at home on this bike. The bike is not 100% perfect but I am not either.

My first day would be a 370km ride. Starting my ride with fantastic weather made me eager to ride my motorbike. I left home and traveled my way to Helecine. In Helecine you can visit a beautifully restored castle. The sun created wonderful light directed at this historical monument.

I really don’t like to use the main roads. I want to have the ability to discover little cities and beautiful countrysides. Most of the time I spend my rides on the small asphalt roads. I just love it!

Having these views on my motorbike brings inspiration for creativity.

After passing the little authentic cities in the Walloon countryside another castle showed up. It was called: Chateau de Courrière. The link to the website: http://www.chateaudecourriere.be

I loved the inside of the castle. It really gave an idea of how it was back in time.

There was not too much time to spend in the city of Courière. I needed to ride my 370km and enter the camping site before 6 PM. My Guzzi was ready for it.

The Condroz countryside is very beautiful to ride in. There is a very old brewery located, called du Bocq. It is located since 1858 in the small city of Purnode. The brewery is now the property of brewery Corsendonk. The buildings still show their old historical roots.

Like you maybe noticed, I felt blessed with my panoramic views. I continued my ride direction the French border. I crossed a little city in France. The city is located near Auflance and has been visited by the most famous cycling race in the world, the Tour de France. It was noticeable because of the old bicycles which have been painted and decorated with flowers. It felt like a very warm little city.

I did continue my road from the French to the Belgian border. My last stop of the day would be the brewery of Orval. The brewery of Orval has been well known for its quality beers. The brewery has been build in 1931. You see a lot of people dragging beers outside and the restaurants nearby were fully booked. This is the link to the brewery: Orval.

I have no drinking issues, just telling. 😉

I ended up riding my last kilometers on the asphalt to get to my sleeping place located in Poupehan. After 370 kilometers of riding on the Belgian and French roads, I was more than pleased to build my tent to make my sleeping place ready. The journey was not to its end yet and I decided to go for an evening hike in the hills. I like to take some landscape images in the evenings.

One of the images presents a brilliant view of my camping place next to the Semois river. A beautiful sunset on the hills of the Ardennes made it all very peaceful. My 10km hiking gave me a view of the city of Poupehan.

I was lucky with nice neighbors at my camping spot. At the end of the evening, it was nice to spend next to their campfire and company. For sure there was one Belgian Trappist of a Belgian brewery that needed to end this perfect day. It was time to get in my tent and enjoy the peace of nature.