Brugge

The accommodation was about 6km south of Breda. It was the wing of a house set in a storybook garden, complete with duck pond, ducks, hens and so on. Beautifully furnished and presented, cool and comfortable. It was called TimeOut. The owners were a semi-retired couple, warm and friendly. They both came with our breakfast, each with a separate tray, at the appointed time of 8.30. It was the standard dutch breakfast of boiled egg. cheese, meat, bread and jam, but prepared to perfection.

The holiday had been hard and varied with many different beds, and indifferent sleeps. In fact a few days previously we had rescheduled our trip to miss out the planned two night stay in Mechelen in Belgium and extend our stay in Breda and the next destination Brugge because we realized we had over-reached ourselves.

This was the perfect place to have a rest day, stay home and catch up, remarkably it was also the first day it rained. Breakfast was just as good, similar to the previous day but with enough variation to add interest.

It seemed a pity to miss Antwerp but it was too far to cycle so we went by train. We spent some time walking around the Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedrqall. It is very impressive, particularly the large panels by Rubens, although rope barriers prevent you getting close enough to study them in detail. We wanted to try the Le Petit Zinc, a small cheap restaurant that nevertheless has one Michelin star. Unfortunately it was closed on Sundays so we went to De Kleine Zavel, also recommended in the Lonely Planet and had an acceptable, but not outstanding, lunch.