So final tally of km is around 45. I started on the East side, along the Maas, through Tegelen and took the ferry at Steyl to Baarlo Where I stayed along the river so I could watch the locks for a bit.
Locks at Baarlo/Belfeld
The locks actually emptied surprisingly fast for the size. But I suppose it needs to be fast considering the amount of traffic they must get. Today was Saturday so there weren't many boats waiting (but there where a few) but during the week there are half a dozen boats on either side waiting to get through.
From Baarlo I continued along the river to the small town of Kessel. It really is a cute place, and has some castle ruins, a nice church and apparently a watermill (unverified by me :P). I had quickly seen the castle ruins before, but hadn't taken any pictures. The ruins are nice, and its nice to be able to walk around the grounds, because there is an excellent view of the river. The Netherlands has tons of Castles, the only sad part is that alot of them are privately owned, so you can't really go see them. But since these ones are ruins I guess it's not much use to someone else to own.
Kasteelruine De Keverberg in Kessel
View from in front of the Castle
The next town was Neer, 4.4 km's upstream from Kessel. I only skirted the outside of the town, but as you were approaching it, there were some really nice views of the river.
From Neer to Haelen I rode through mostly fields. There was one part that was through a row of cute little brick houses, very picturesque, but no pictures, sorry. But there was this sweet smell in the air, and I was thinking, - why does it smell like cleaner?. Then I realized it smelled like flowers. That made me happy, when is the last time that you smelled flowers just in the air? I know it's been a while for me, since I thought it was scented soap.
From Haelen I followed the Fietsroute to Horn. That was probably the most uninspiring part of my journey, mostly industrial stuff, and a couple fields. But after Horn it got better. I biked through mostly forests and along the edge of water (lakes that shoot off the Maas). The forests (and the lakes too I suppose) reminded me of Canada. Unlike some of the other forests I've seen around the Netherlands, these ones where less green and had leafy floors like you see around central Canada.
This could be Canada -But it's not, which makes it much more interesting.
At this point, I took advantage of the presence of trees and stopped for lunch in the shade. I had bought some cheesy bread and carrots at the Albert Hejin this morning. And it was delicious. After lunch (around 2 pm) I was ready to head back home. My plan was to bike to Roermond and take the Veolia Train to Venlo, which is what I did.
So I had to cross to the other side of the water, which I did in two steps (around Roermond and to the south is just a jumble of water and land- Canals, lakes, islands, peninsulas, Rivers?)
The first was at the lock at Osen. Which were pretty interesting, similar to the ones at Baarlo -and any locks for that matter-
Locks at Osen
Then a bit further downstream, I took a short ferry to the East bank. This area was so cool, there were so many boats and marinas/harbours. Lots of pleasure boating and sailing happening. Reminded me of going to blockhouse island along the St-Lawerence back in Canada (except very different). But really great on a summer day like today.
It was only 4 km to Roermond. I had only been to the train station before, so Roermond was completely new to me. But I have to say first impressions were really nice. It has a very different feel from Venlo, I think it has to do with the Boating that has such a strong presence and there are a couple canals that run through the city. Very nice city, I wish I hadn't been so tired and sunburnt and spent more time looking around. There was a market in one of the main squares (it is Saturday after all) so I looked around there for a bit, and bought (and ate) a tray of raspberries. It is only 5 Euros to take the train one way, so perhaps I will go back and see a bit more. I know there are also a few interesting sights (churches and castle ruins) around the area too, so I might take my bike on the train and explore the area.
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