Dine on North Sea mussels, eel in sorrel, Oostende gray shrimp, waterzoi, carbonade, and the ever-present frites , served with infinite sauces. Then head for the hills on your new biking legs. We end our ride in Germany. Then pedal down to the Rhine to dangle your feet in Europe's greatest river. Then spend the evening sampling red Flanders ales in cheerful pubs, popping the famous local chocolates, or cruising the flower-bedecked canals.
Canals are again the theme for our first full-day ride.
Past the windmills which once drained the undersea polders, and along tow-paths lined with massive trees planted by King Leopold. A morning train gets us to the Ardennes. Rochfort's trappist abbey brews Belgium's greatest beer. The Grottes de Han are underground caverns so massive that you go in by tram and come out by boat. Cross Luxemburg from end to end in a day.