Day 4: Maasmechelen - Tongeren

• Maasmechelen - Tongeren 55.7 km (34.6 miles)
• Iconic cycle routes: Meuse Route, Hilly Route
• Accommodation: Gaudium XII in Tongeren

The wind blows in our faces as we leave the Kempen behind us. I think last night’s Italian wines have settled in my thighs and calves, because I am not really making much progress. We set course for Tongeren - Belgium’s oldest city. Today, no fewer than three of the iconic cycle routes come together for us, as we follow the Meuse Route between Haspengouw and the Kempen. At 55 kilometres (34 miles) this is the shortest of the nine routes. We cycle along the dyke where every few kilometres a legend is inscribed, such as the story of the Duivelskoel; a pool where a coachman once vanished, descending all the way to hell through it. Another legend is about a gentleman who was said to have been murdered by the Meuse. All these legends taken together tell a colourful and intriguing history of this otherwise monotonous landscape. We jump onto a small ferryboat, because our homeland, the Netherlands, is just fifty metres away - the village of Geulle aan de Maas. 81-year-old Gerardus stands at the helm of the ferry, wife Annie sits beside him on a folding chair. Both are Dutch. ‘I always come along,’ says Annie. For sixteen years, the couple has been ferrying people across the Meuse. They used to travel the inland waterways, including the Meuse; in a way, this little ferry has brought them back home. Until last year, you had to pay for the crossing, but now it is free - it is the Belgian authorities in particular that subsidise the ferry. Annie sees three children boarding and rushes out with a tin of marshmallows.

In Neerharen, a dilapidated white house by the canal catches the eye. A bridge keeper’s house. I speak to Jesse there, a young Dutchman who, together with companion Stijn, leases the bridge keeper’s house. ‘We are currently in the process of renovating it,’ says Jesse. ‘But in April 2025, we hope to open. An eatery with an Italian slant. We don’t have a name yet, but we want to include something reflecting the house’s previous function.’ Two elderly gentlemen from the village sometimes stop by to tell Jesse about the history of the house, and Jesse searches the village archives for information. It is nice to see how the new generation care about the past and thinks about the future. The wind continues to blow in our faces as we have long since left the Meuse behind us and we head towards Tongeren, where we will be spending the night. But first we visit De Brug van Vroenhoven, a very interesting museum located in the bridge itself. Inside, we learn all about the beginning of World War II in Belgium.