After my vicissitudes on the road yesterday, I finally came to rest on the service area at Nivelles at about 03:00 – a 19-hour day (teachers, please take note).
At least it gave me the opportunity to have one of the best nights’ sleeps that I’ve had on the road for quite some time so next morning I was up and about and ready for anything.
Next morning I went round to Bernards to load up the Minerva. It’s not that heavy and we managed to push it onto the trailer without even the hint of a winch – really!
I’ve left the trailer parked up at Bernard’s house now waiting for me to go back to pick it up tomorrow late afternoon. I have plenty to do (like shopping and the like) and I don’t want to drag all of this around behind me through the streets of Brussels and anywhere else.
After spending 2 hours discussing solar panels with 2 guys from the Congo (it’s better than Nigeria I suppose) whom I met outside Carrefour, I did some shopping and then went to the flat where I half-loaded the van.
But you all missed the excitement there as well – and Terry would have loved this.
- A van pulls into the private parking space of someone while it unloads some stuff
- the owner of the private parking space pulls up behind and blocks them in – and then walks away
- the owner of the van goes to fetch the President of the Conseil de Gerance
- the President of the Conseil de Gerance accuses me of parking my van there (it’s a small white Volkswagen we are talking about here by the way) so we have “a frank exchange of views” about this and he won’t be coming to talk to me again.
- the owner of the car says that he is going to leave his car parked blocking this van in – and obstructing the passageway – all night
- The President tells the owner of the car “yes, you do that – it’ll serve these bastards in this van right”
- The President and the car driver wander off arm-in-arm more or less, to the accompaniment of some ribald commentary from Yours Truly.
- The woman from the next garage can’t get her car into her garage
- The man in the previous garage can’t get his car out of his garage
- The police are called.
- Having stirred the pot by coming out with my usual round of … errr … helpful comments, I wander away.
Isn’t life exciting in Brussels?
And now just for a change, I’m in a small hoted in Ghent. I’ve been for a walk around and I’ve had some chips and a vegetable kebab and I’m okay. Here I’ll be staying until the morning.
It’s a departure from the usual procedure, I know, but I just fancied doing something a little different. And why not?
