Where's Bertie? He's in a free Aire in the town of Kelmis which is just over the border in Belgium. Electricty and water are available for small fees. Exact location: 50.71554, 6.01002
Weather: Dry but overcast start, then rain for a few hours, then clearling to sunshine by mid-afternoon.
When we were in the Netherlands a few weeks ago (at the place with all the enclaves and counter-enclaves), I idly looked up the highest point in the country. Discovering that the high point is also the 'Three Countries Point' where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany meet, and that it was no more than a 10km diversion from the route we would be taking between Düsseldorf and Maastricht a few weeks hence, it got added to our itinerary.
Until yesterday, the intention had been to leave Aachen this morning and drive there. It was only as we returned to Bertie in the late afternoon that, due to the number of Belgian registration numbers around, I looked to see how far we were from the border, and found that we were within easy running distance. And, clearly, a run taking in three countries and a national high point was always going to be much more pleasing than laps of a park!
The highest point in the Netherlands* sits at 322m, but I can't claim that we climbed a hill, as our car park in Aachen was at 250m (although we did amass just short of 300m of ascent in the undulating route we took). There also wasn't a view from the summit, although I'm sure there would have been a good one from the top of the viewing tower, had we arrived at a time of day when it was open.
Another on the list of viewing towers we haven't climbed on this trip
At the Three Countries Point
Mick with feet in two different countries and a hand in another. The strips of metal on the ground mark the borders as they leave the meeting point.
The nearby information sign told us that from 1816 until 1919, this was the 'Four Countries Point', as the border of Neutral Moresnet (a place of which I'd never heard) also came to this point.
Weather: Dry but overcast start, then rain for a few hours, then clearling to sunshine by mid-afternoon.
When we were in the Netherlands a few weeks ago (at the place with all the enclaves and counter-enclaves), I idly looked up the highest point in the country. Discovering that the high point is also the 'Three Countries Point' where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany meet, and that it was no more than a 10km diversion from the route we would be taking between Düsseldorf and Maastricht a few weeks hence, it got added to our itinerary.
Until yesterday, the intention had been to leave Aachen this morning and drive there. It was only as we returned to Bertie in the late afternoon that, due to the number of Belgian registration numbers around, I looked to see how far we were from the border, and found that we were within easy running distance. And, clearly, a run taking in three countries and a national high point was always going to be much more pleasing than laps of a park!
The highest point in the Netherlands* sits at 322m, but I can't claim that we climbed a hill, as our car park in Aachen was at 250m (although we did amass just short of 300m of ascent in the undulating route we took). There also wasn't a view from the summit, although I'm sure there would have been a good one from the top of the viewing tower, had we arrived at a time of day when it was open.
The nearby information sign told us that from 1816 until 1919, this was the 'Four Countries Point', as the border of Neutral Moresnet (a place of which I'd never heard) also came to this point.
The 12km circuit was almost entirely on good tracks and paths, with just a couple of short sections of 'is this really a path?'.
Back at Bertie we didn't hang around for long, being keen to get to Kelmis - not because there was anything we particularly wanted to do here, but because I expected the Aire to be full later in the day. It's a good job we hadn't come here for any real reason other than the presence of a free Aire with a service point, as the rain that had started approximately 3 minutes after we'd finished our run had followed us through the tediously slow drive (roadworks galore), such that on arrival the weather wasn't conducive to being outside.
With the weather clearing this afternoon, we have been out for a wander. Nowt of note to report.
The only other thing to mention today is the price of fuel. Over the last few days it's been around 220-225c/litre. During our quick trip to Belgium a few weeks ago, it was around 40c/litre cheaper here, but Google tells me that Belgium is now just as expensive as Germany. We gave Bertie (whose fuel light came on yesterday) a bit of a drink just before the border at the relative bargain price of 211, hoping that it won't be more than that in the Netherlands.
(*Do I need to clarify that I mean the 'European bit of the Netherlands, not other Dutch territories elsewhere in the world'? Surely no reader of this blog would pick me up on such a point?)
No comments:
Post a Comment