Bilbo are you in my head?? I was just today looking into rental cars in Belgium (for a visit to Bastogne next May). I always assumed driving conditions became less death-defying the further north one went in Europe (this has been my experience so far. Also: don't drive with an Italian up a mountain in the Dolomiti).

You have convinced me otherwise ;)

Driving in Belgium doesn't ever figure into our travels. Thank God for trains, because those guys are nutso! I think I read they have the worst accident statistics in Europe, and that red cars are the worst offenders (not sure where I read that, but it sticks in my memory).

red cars are the worst offenders (not sure where I read that, but it sticks in my memory).>>

my car is red.

I am enjoying this greatly and remembering riding in the car while my cousin drove in Belgium. The highways weren't bad but pulling off to reach small cities like Bruges could be challenging. At one point my other cousin and I got out of the car and walked in two directions to figure out where the heck we were supposed go. ;-)

I stopped having red cars after crashing my mother's (red) car.

I did manage to go to Bastogne without incident though ;-)
Do go to the museum where they reconstituted a basement during a bombing - impressive. The bed moves a bit and the sound is scary.

OMG, this thread is becoming so hysterical! :-D
You know what the problem is? Y'all can't drive!
In my 44 years of driving I have had one small accident. But then, I never owned a red car. :-)

MyriamC, a nutso

Letter just received from Norbert Faarhtbender, PA to the Belgium Ambassador to the Court of St James.

Dear Mr Burgler,

I am so glad you have enjoyed Belgian hospitality again this year and that you have given me another opportunity to assist you in your perception of our great country.

1) The smell from our motorway Aire's could be as you describe but is more likely to be that of newly mown grass, great effort is made to keep our “reststops” as green as possible and this means that we have to keep the lawns mown.

2) The large number of plastic bottles filled with yellow liquid stored at the exit of many of the Aires that you visited make little sense to me but is perhaps down to a load shifting off a truck. Your suggestion that the contents might be urine, chucked out of trucks and cars, is highly unlikly.

3) I can well understand that you dislike having to pay to use the cleaned toilets on Belgian motorways and with the collapse of the sterling you probably find the rise from 50 euro cents to 70 euro cents in the last 2 years seems a bit hard.

4) I'm glad you found so many very clean and unused “traps” and urinals (12 and 12) in each of the facilities available, the two working washbasins seem excessivly generous as does the one hand drier (we Belgians find that jeans make an adequate hand cleaning and drying device). Clearly the idea of providing hot water to wash your hands is technically difficult and a missuse of global warming energy. What did you expect for your 70 Euro cents, hot water and soap?

5) I'm also glad to hear that you not only visited our fine motorways but also a number of our excellent National roads. We Belgians like to ensure that drivers are kept alert at all times, so the large number of pot holes, collapsing surfaces, cobblestones crumbling beneath the road surface and large waves of macadam are there to stimulate the brain.

6) The use of speed controls is normal in any modern western state. We make sure that we tell you when you are leaving a 30km/hr road section, we assume you know when you are entering one and behave correctly. Do not expect local drivers to follow any of these speed limits as they know where the cameras are. I assume any gestures made at you were in response to your rejection of Europe and not meant to imply you should “get out of the f@@@@@g way” as you suggest.

7) As I have mentioned in my previous letter, Belgian drivers do not feel they should indicate their intentions at junctions as that removes the “excitement of the chase”. This may make negotiating roundabouts a little tricky but take your time, just not too much time.

8) I note that you helped us all by avoiding both the Antwerp ring road and the Brussels ring roads. Thank you for this kind action. I understand the Brussels ring will be completed sometime soon and any reduction in traffic is much appreciated by other users and the local emergancy services. I felt your Guardian inspired document was perhaps too diligent in its analysis https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...erp-congestion

I hope that answers your questions, I hope we can expect a return visit in the near future and I wish you luck in getting any Brexit negotiation past the Walloon Parliament.

Cordialement, tot ziens,

Faarhtbender

:-)

Antwerp is now one big building site, with several of the main roads into town being worked on at the same time.

Take the train.
Unless they're on strike.

Next strike; October 10.

If you need to travel through Zeebrugge to the port then probably worth making sure everyone in the car is wide awake. The road layout has recently been upgraded, unfortunatly the signage has not been changed and you are likely to be sent to the east side of the canal. To get back to the west side, you then have to cross a bunch of terrifying junctions.

enjoy!