French women don't get fat...

And neither do the Dutch! For the French, it might be all about the cuisine and portion control, but for the Dutch it is all about the cycling! Lol! What an experience this part of my trip has been. 70 km from Boxtel to Nijmegen op de fiets. Thank goodness the Netherlands is so flat is all I can say! At least that part was appreciated on an older bicycle with no gears. Since yesterday was Sunday, the traffic was light and there were many cyclers out and about but the paths were not jammed. There were tourists out and about. Native Dutch people on picnics and Sunday drives. And so many groups of cycle clubs out for a tour. Large groups looking like they were searching for the tour de France and took a wrong turn! I took a great picture of such a group that stopped for a rest at a pub and were replenishing the tanks! I am getting quite good at taking pictures as we ride along. And when I say quite good, I mean I don't fall off the bike and land in the ditch! This is not a comment on the quality of the photos, that remains to be seen yet.
I loved looking at the farms as we rode yesterday. It is fascinating to me to see the differences between here and home. Dairy farms, pig farms, horse farms, goat and sheep farms... all so clean, neat and tidy. And no wasted space. We passed goats staked on the sides of the road. We passed one warehouse in a small town where they built a little fence on a strip of lawn behind the warehouse and a fat little pony grazed. I found that pretty interesting and thought of the massive lawns at ExxonMobil in Belleville and how many ponies that would house! :-)

We first made our way through Heeswijk-Dinther, stopping at a castle that has been dated back to as early as 1080. Yes, 1080! These remains can still be seen in the cellar vaults. Over the centuries, the castle itself was expanded, refurbished, demolished and rebuilt depending on the financial means of the owner at the time and it now stands in wonderful repair on beautiful grounds and features a brassiere where you can sit and have a lovely meal.

I spent some time wandering the sheep pastures with my camera while Dad consulted the map, trying to decide the next leg of our route. He said he wished he had brought his compass and we would follow it to Nijmegen! I said I think NOT!! He said why not? To which I replied I preferred to follow the labeled paths, get there today and I had no desire to be pushing my bike (not to mention my sorry ass) through some cow pastures just because that is the way the crows fly!! :-s It was a moot point anyway because we now compass, so we followed the paths and accepted the assistance of many kind strangers along the way, as each leg required at least one SOS! We made our way through Loosbroek, Heesch, Grave and finally Malden where my father grew up. We visited the gravesite of my great grandparents, went by the house where they lived and I even saw the school my father attended as a child. It is somewhat like a trip back in time even though it was not my time. A trip to the fatherland ... so glad I came...
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