Eban-Emael

20 May 2015:  Today's hike began with a 7 km walk in an arc west of Maastricht from Lanaken to Kanne.  We were looking forward to a walk on the grassy shoulder of a bicycle path beside the Ambert Canal, as we had experienced a couple of days ago.  That was not, however, what we got today.  The GR5 followed a road that ran parallel to the canal (but out of sight of it most of the time).  We had to walk on pavement, except when we jumped off the road to allow trucks and cars to pass us at speeds greatly exceeding the speed limit.

We have noticed that Belgian drivers tend to drive much too fast in cities, residential areas, etc.  When a big truck, occupying the entire road, rumbled toward us this morning, I waved my hand to urge the driver to slow down.  The driver, as he drove past us, swept his hand contemptuously, as if to say: get off the road!  I responded with an angry gesture that the driver evidently saw in his rear view mirror (as I, of course, had intended).  He stopped his truck!  In the animated discussion that ensued, he insisted that we were violating the law by walking on that road (which was utter nonsense), while I maintained that he should drive at a speed that did not endanger others.  Neither of us persuaded the other, even after the driver stopped his truck farther down the road to unload and then resumed the discussion when we caught up with him...

Well, the GR5 finally found some beautiful dirt trails through forests and across fields in the afternoon, especially in a short section where we crossed a bit of Holland south of Maastricht.  We arrived in Eban-Emael in the afternoon.  This is a bleak little town, but it has a fantastic B&B, "Rue Haute Bed & Breakfast", as well as an excellent Italian restaurant.

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The industrial area along the Albert Canal south of Lanaken:

The wheat crop looks good!

Poppies in Flanders fields:

Coffee break at a bridge over the Albert Canal:

Border markers from 1843:

We've seen so many buildings in Holland and Flanders constructed with brick that it was interesting to see where some of that brick comes from:

We were surprised to see grapes for wine production growing near Maastricht. 

Hilly terrain!

We're still heading in the right direction!

The forestry workers evidently spared this GR5 marker when cutting down trees along this section of the trail:

Bridge over the Albert Canal at Kanne:

Carroll is pleased to arrive in the Province of Liège, where he used to live:

Our excellent B&B in Eban-Emael:

Ilonka & Marc, our hosts at the B&B: