Au Vieux Durbuy

... sun was setting, and I was pretty tired, so I drove to Bastogne, and checked in to a hotel I like to use there, the Melba. It’s not expensive, right in the center of town, and has free wifi. Bastogne, of course, is where American troops, surrounded by the last-gasp German Arden Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge) around Christmas 1944, refused to surrender. When a German officer was sent in blindfolded to ask the Americans to surrender, General Anthony McAuliffe replied “ ...

During our stay in Spa we had the most scary, horrible, unpleasant experience ever in a restaurant.

The restaurant to avoid is "Le Bouchon Gourmand", the owner does not hesitate to insult customers, lock them into the restaurant if there is a dispute on the bill, and claim more money than is due.

See more on www.bouchon-gourmand.blogspot.com

... They told us we were at the highest point in Belgium, which was somewhere in the Nature Park.

We decided to call it a day for the roadbook, and make a detour to just get into Luxembourg for fuel, and to make sure we 'did' all the countries.

Looking back that detour cost us some time, but did mean we visited Luxembourg, even if it was too dark to see it.

... the Americans about 2kms outside of town and a tacky little museum in town. We did find an impressive cemetery on the way dedicated to the Americans that died at the Battle of the Buldge and the American aviators that had lost their lives. All the names were listed as well as their division and rank.

... surfing host for 2 nights. She is a Hungarian/Italian who has been in Brussels for 5 months to head up a cycle lobbying group within the European Community. They have a pilot program to increase public awareness and promotion of bicycling in 5 European cities. She is a huge bike enthusiast herself and is loving her new job. I was also met by her two Polish couchsurfing host friends and their guests from Madrid. We were whisked off to have lunch in the European ...

... our walking clothes on for a tour of the town. The hotel owner once again extended his assistance to us and let us keep our riding gear in a back room of the hotel lobby where we could get changed into our gear afterwards. We walked around Bernkastel for a few hours and took in the sights of this cool little town with its small and crooked buildings and of course couldn’t leave town without a ...

... held the positions. We stopped at the monument for the 502nd since we had a vet with us from the 502nd. Jim somewhat remembered that he was positioned on a small rise just outside of Champs.

We also stopped at the position of the 506th. Yes, that would be E Co. 506th of the 101st. We stopped at the monument to the 506th and then we went to E Co. positions in the woods overlooking Foy. I actually had the opportunity to walk around in the woods around Easy's ...

****.

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.

It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good ...

... with me (basically so we could talk) but then the Belgian lady rushed her and said we have to go, so her consolation was please send me an email, which was comforting. Cried on the walk to the bus stop because everything just built up, and had to wait two hours for the bus because I missed it by 5 minutes.. :| lundi: Sat outside for the first time today, because it was sunny and nice, and 20 degrees - WOW. That night ate frites...again, so many frites I am putting on ...

... et commençons un voyage dans l'histoire au fur et à mesure que nous progressons dans l'enceinte. Un bourg occupait autrefois la pointe du Grognon, puis fut rasé à cause de ses conditions insalubres. La Citadelle a changé de mains plusieurs fois à travers l'histoire et ses différents occupants ajoutèrent chacun une différente section, comme les fortifications à la Vauban ajoutés par les Français et les fortifications de Terra ...