Day 7 - Sunday

I was debating about what to do today and decided to ditch the other two guys I'm with. They were talking about doing Amsterdam, which I didn't have a huge interest in doing. Plus, we found out the Tour de France was starting this weekend and happened to be going through Belgium! I decided I would rather do that and so they decided to do Paris. I've already been to Paris twice and I really like it, but it loses its fun going back with people that want to do the basics for their first time.

I decided it would be fun to see a few cities throughout Belgium that I hadn't seen and find a town to catch the race. I left around 8am and headed to Gent, about an hour north-west of Waterloo. I parked outside the biggest cathedral I could find to make finding my car easier. The town was bigger and more beautiful than I thought it would be. I walked around and found numerous squares with a bunch of cafes and shops. There is a main canal that runs through the town with boat tours; it was beautiful. Needless to say, I took a lot of photos. I had passed up a square I really liked and started to get nervous that I wouldn't be able to find it again, but luckily I did. It was the perfect European setting; I grabbed a cappuccino and strawberry crepe which were unbelievable, read my book, did some people watching...it was perfect. I stayed until 11 and then decided to head to Antwerpen about 45minutes to the east.

I planned to stay in Antwerpen to watch the Tour de France, but the city was much more industrialized than I thought it would be. I drove around a little while, but wasn't impressed enough to even get out of the car. Luckily I did see a laundromat and had brought my laundry with just in case. Also luckily, there was a local there that was nice enough to help point out how to use the machine. So at least Antwerpen was useful to get my laundry done, but not much else. I had drawn a map with some other towns south, towards Brussels, in case Antwerpen didn't work out. Good thing!

So, I headed back on the road and went to Mechelen. I had no idea what to expect, but was hoping it would be a nice, small scenic spot to catch the race. It was much bigger than I expected, but worked out well. Even with the GPS it was a little difficult to figure out where to go in town due to road closures for the race. After many u-turns, I found a spot I thought was safe. After I walked a minute, I panicked and was afraid that one of the signs I had seen said that the road I parked on would be closed due to the race. Obviously I have no idea what it said, but I started to picture my car being stuck on the street for rest of the night. So, I decided to find another spot, which worked out perfect. I thought I was there about an hour-and-a-half early based on what the website said for expected times. I walked around a little to get a lay of the land and figure out what would be a good spot. I had no idea what to expect, but I found a spot that was wide open next to the guard rail they had setup. I had a full-view in both directions and thought it would be perfect. There was a carnival setup, a giant TV with the race, and some other venders. I grabbed an ice-cream and later a beer while I was waiting and then headed back to my spot, which was still wide-open. Well, I ended-up being more like three hours early and by the time the race started, the whole area was jammed. It was too bad because I wasn't able to get any really good photos like I was hoping for, but it was a neat experience. It was impossible to tell when the riders were going to actually come as there was a parade of different cars for police, officials, press, venders, etc. for what seemed like at least an hour before the riders actually came through. Once they did get close, we were able to tell from the additional police motorcycles and helicopters over head. There were three riders (I believe) out front and then the rest of the pack just a few seconds behind. It all lasted less than a minute and then they were gone. It was quick, but I'm still glad I did it.

I headed back to the car, grabbed some dinner at McDonald's (I know...I went to McDonald's in Belgium), and headed back to the hotel. I've been relaxing now for the past few hours outside on the front lawn of the hotel, finished a book, had a beer, and took care of these posts. Pretty good weekend overall.