Leaving Liege, Ahoy to Huy

Actually, Huy is pronounced Oui so it should be say Oui to Huy as that is where we are today, after a short trip and two more locks from Liege.

 

The weather is awful, like winter in California: about 58F, low grey cloud, occasional showers and wind.  I hate the wind when we are motoring.  Fortunately the locks were sheltered and we didn’t have much trouble.  The sun is trying to stay out this afternoon so maybe tomorrow will be better.

As the hills close in on the Meuse river the steel mills and power stations are getting squeezed out and it is getting greener and feeling a little more rural.  After the main canal leaves the river at Namur tomorrow the river will take over and we will wind our way into the Ardennes forest.

Terry was happy to leave Liege as it was a grubby dirty city after Holland and dominated by, what someone described best as “brutalist”architecture from the 60’s and 70s’.  I actually quite liked it because it is the first French city we have been to with all that entails, it is set in amongst hills and it can still surprise with cozy hidden squares, exquisite buildings where you don’t expect them and quaint little shops.  It could certainly do with some sprucing up though – it is a little like Pittsburgh before they transformed it.

Because the province of Limburg in Holland reaches so far down into Belgium we have bypassed the Flemish (more Dutch) part of the country and come straight into the home of the Walloons, the French part of Belgium.  This means we can now indulge ourselves with good cheeses, pate, wine and fresh bread every hour – and we have.

Now if only the weather would improve.