Lifts
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
425
451
Trip End
Ongoing
Le Roeulx,
Belgium
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Hop on a train, drive to Amiens, do ANZAC Day, then jump back in the car, drive to Belgium, be tourists, do dinner, back to France, buy wine, the end !!!
The Story
Booking the train to France, once again, we drove on to it and headed on our way. Amazingly, it was so much warmer over here. As we drove, we listened to radio, and the first news of swine flu came across. As I had a little bit of a cold, there was only one thing to do, and having had the Rawalpindi bird flu, and in the need for some sympathy, I knew I was coming down with some of that shit !!!
Once in Amiens, we downed dinner and then took a walk, but as it was night time everything was closed.
After ANZAC Day ceremonies, we went back into town. Now in France, there are three cathedrals that are classified with World Heritage status, and as we had been to the other two, Chartres and Rheims, we finally managed to complete the set by visiting this one. There was also an added bonus, it is also the largest. Inside, there was your usual churchy stuff to see, but it did have one attraction, there was the supposed head of John the Baptist. We did manage to see it, it was all black and rotting, but it made me think about how many John the Baptist sites we had seen !!!
After a walk around, we jumped in the car and headed towards Belgium. However, it wasn't long before the swine flu hit me. My bones were aching, so Lucy and I swapped seats, and I left her with the GPS and onwards we went until a couple of hours later, we were where we wanted to be, in the town of Le Roeulx.
We had come here as we had wanted to see something different. Now in this part of the world, a lot of goods are transported by barge, and in the Canal du Centre, barges had been plying their trade for over 100 years, however as the barges got bigger, eventually, the old locks became obsolete. There was only one thing to do, and that was build a new canal and boat lift, so the Strépy-Thieu boat lift was made.
Basically, it is currently the largest boat lift in the world. It grabs a barge and either raises or lowers it 73.5 metres. Now most people would think boring, but it is actually pretty good. You get to go all over it and you get to see how it was built, and seeing that it's 100 years newer than the original, it now takes around twenty minutes for a barge to be raised/lowered compared to four lifts and seven hours !!!
Down the road is one of the original ones. Now used for pleasure trips, it did look impressive, but watching a boat line itself up, it was very slow. Still, it was great to see and to compare the two.
Back in the car, once again I died.
Lucy kept on driving until we reached our next spot, which was Ypres. We have been here loads of times, but we weren't here for the Last Post. We hit our usual chocolate store, bought shitloads for the Mothers in Aus, then had a meal of Flemish stew. This is the only stuff to eat in Belgium, but as I was feeling like death warmed up, there were no beers to be had.
Back in the car, once again I died.
Lucy drove back into France and once back in Calais, we loaded up with wine and hit the train, and once back in the UK, Lucy made the long drive home.
And Finally
It had been great to come over for ANZAC Day, but to achieve the set of World Heritage Cathedrals is a weight off my mind. But trust me, if you are in to barges, the Strépy-Thieu boat lift is well worth a visit
