Today was a very relaxed, if uneventful day of riding followed by a comparatively busy night. We contined from Aubel along the route we had planned out to Houfen via the cycle network, which was so well signposted it didn’t take much effort to follow. We were climbing a lot more today than we had been on days past though, as we were right in the edge of the Ardene. 

In the morning we did a big climb out of the valley we stayed near last night and down the otherside where we passed what we assumed to be the Chataux we had heard about the day before. The Chataux that was looked so poorly on simpler cycle tourers like us, looking to spend a quick night in a field.

The route took us over hills and down and up again on gravel roads.

  
It was sort of a half day today, we finished at 5 (but only go going a bit before noon). Just before we finished, we had planned to camp in the park beside a lake we had seen on the map again we had a big climb. We arrived at the top and found the dam, and across it a carpark where you were aloud keep camper vans for a while. Nearby the carpark was a patch of grass shielded from the carpark by a hedge.

Following a relaxed evening of reading/writing/foam rolling we got into the Bivvys and drifted off to sleep.
Only to be rudely awoken at 11 by some German kids who had driven up to the carpark, we assumed from some nearby town, to spin doughnuts and blast trashy rock/dub step out of their car stereo. We were joking about the whole situation, us behind the hedge in our sleeping bags and them having the time of their lives in this carpark.
When eventually they noticed us through the foliage a few came to investigate. Unfortunately before we could get talking to them, Finn scared them off with a friendly hello.

They finally left the carpark when it started to rain. At first a drizzle, but soon it was torrential, a thunderstorm had blown in. We were kept up by the heavy rain pounding the Bivvys, which lie directly on top of your legs. After the rain subsided a few hours later though, we drifted off to sleep.

camp, the next morning