So today started badly with a half hour tantrum from Forrest over the fact Paloma pressed the button for our floor in the lift after breakfast. As time ticked by we started to worry we wouldn't make our planned excursion for today but eventually he calmed down and we loaded up the car and we were off. We were planning to catch a special type of train and as we often say to Forrest, "trains run to timetables" and this train in particular departed the starting station every 2 hours in half hour blocks. Thankfully, we made it on time albeit with our second delay of the day in our first wet car seat from a flooded nappy. Only the cushioned insert part got wet so this could be removed and left to dry on the parcel shelf but a quick outfit change in the middle of the carpark was needed for Paloma.
 |
| The Molignée Valley. |
The train we were taking is known as a draisine or rail-bike. It's a kind of hybrid between a go-cart and a bicycle that has been specially adjusted to be able to drive on railway tracks. The line we were travelling on is the Molignée Valley line built in 1879 but much like many secondary branch lines in the UK, passenger service ceased in the 1960's. The line continued to be used by the Belgian army, however, in the early 2000's they abandoned their rights to the line and Les Draisines de la Molignée was formed.
 |
| A team selfie on the draisine / rail-bike. |
The line is currently split into two sections Warnant to Falaën and Falaën to Maredsous. Due to the time it takes at each of the changeovers we could only do the first 4km each way, from Warnant to Falaën and back, today. The outward bound trip is uphill and so did take some effort but the ride was actually a lot easier than I was expecting and the kids behaved immaculately which surprised me no end as I had been quite nervous about doing this activity with both adults preoccupied with the cycling. A quick ice lolly stop at Falaën while the operator turned the draisines round on a mini turntable and then we headed back the other way. Going downhill this time we hardly needed to pedal at all and the kids loved it when we tried to see how fast we could get it to go before coasting for a bit. It was a really great trip out and Forrest wants to come back for his 5th birthday (when he thinks he will be tall enough to pedal himself) to do the rest of the line!
 |
| Going quickly on the downgrade. |
With a late change of plans we decided to drive on to Brussels for a late lunch / early dinner and on researching parking we discovered a newly opened park and ride at Ceria - Coovi. There wasn't much information online about how it operated but we decided to turn up and see if we could work it out when we got there. We arrived. We drove in. The gate opened without issuing a ticket from the machine and we were none the wiser! It looked secure though so we boarded the Metro and headed into central Brussels.
 |
| Bia Mara, a favourite of ours in Brussels. |
 |
| Grand Platz. |
We have visited Brussels before and back in our child-free days (and Matt on solo work trips) we had loved the food from Bia Mara, a contemporary take on fish and chips, and craving a bit of "normal" food this was where we were heading. Whilst we couldn't partake in the lovely Belgian beers that Bia Mara also serves the food was certainly up to the usual standard. (As a note if you are London based you should check out their Camden branch Hook as this is also good). Food done we wandered through Grand Platz to catch the metro back to the carpark. The car was still there but we still couldn't work out how to pay so we got back in and on approaching the barriers they opened and let us out. Fingers crossed it's free at weekends and we're not going to get a bill in the post!
 |
| Parked up for the night at the final hotel on the trip. |
Finishing the day with a late long drive we entered our third country of the day finally reaching France and Calais. With our second wee accident of both the day and the roadtrip, this time from the bigger one, we are now looking forward to getting home tomorrow.
Blogged by Amber.
No comments:
Post a Comment