Hunnebeds rock! (boom tish)

We've been on the trail of these prehistoric marvels through Drenthe province, which is a bit of a hunnebed hotspot.

They are unassumingly situated next to corn fields and in woods and range in size from the simple bedsit variety to the extended family commune variety.

They raised more questions than they answered (how? why? where from??) but we now gather that they are graves constructed circa Stonehenge from rocks deposited (maybe from Scandinavia) during the last ice age.

Van Gogh, Vermeer and van Wensveens

Yes, we're mixing it with all the big names over here.

Using the Auntie Vonnie Art Appreciation Technique of starting upstairs and working down, we whiled away quite a few hours in the Mauritshuis with the Golden Age painters and in the Kroller Muller museum with Van Gogh and his contemporaries.

Highlights for Flash were Gerrit Dou's finely detailed domestic scenes and Vermeer's Delft. For me, the girl and her earring was a standout and Rembrandt's old lady looking at a coin - what these two could do with light and expression was extraordinary.

The collection (and the building) at the K-M is fantastic, and we were able to spend more lovely hours with the 50 or so Van Goghs, and Dutch and French painters of the same era and then wander through the sculpture garden and woods.

Of course our most important stops have been St Kruis, Zoetemeer, Laag Keppel and Arnhem - wonderful to catch up with family!

Five great things about being in Holland

1. I haven't had to spell van Wensveen. Not even once.

2. Bikes rule! There are 20 000 km of bike paths in the Netherlands - some better than the roads - bikes often have right of way in traffic and they have their own roundabouts, parking lots, traffic lights and signposts. So very civilised.

3. Bosvrucht (forest fruit) is in season - raspberries, mulberries, blueberries and the like. It is delicious in all forms - straight off the plant, in tea, in dessert and Flash's favourite, the oh-so-natural bosvruchten sugar sprinkles.

4. Wear and tear on sunglasses is fairly minimal at the moment.

5. There's a lot packed into a small area! We've visited the canal-lined beauty of Delft, Gouda and Leiden south of Amsterdam, Zeeland's peaceful countryside in the south, the woods and heathlands of Drenthe and Gelderland's national parks and the bovine and birdy Friesian islands. All this in less than 2 weeks.

Que?

We've arrived in the Low (flat but windy) Countries and are giving our quads a workout through Belgium.

Leaving France, we've discovered the linguistic challenge of switching languages. Flash had an interesting moment yesterday in Ghent. He asked a lady in the tourist office - in German (?) - whether she spoke French. When she said no, he asked - in French - whether she spoke English (luckily she did).

Tonight we're in Brugges after enjoying a couple of days of waffles, Flemish architecture, praline, canals and hoardes of tourists.

Bordeaux

After a few days biking through grapes and abbeys in the Gironde, we've reached Bordeaux and are waiting for a train north. If you're going to be stranded for a couple of days, Bordeaux is the place to do it. It's a beautiful city - lots of open space, monuments and boulevards, gothic churches and funky art.

We spent the morning in the antique and second hand galleries - an eclectic and colourful mix of chandeliers, cigar smoke, clocks, furniture, rugs and crockery (no wattles Suzette). Most interesting finds were a sword and banjo set, a goat foot coat rack and a faux history book with a secret compartment.

Otherwise we've just been wandering about and sampling the local cuisine in the bistros and cafes. And of course toasting our new Bordelaise cousin with the very quaffable regional wines - congratulations!

Clams and chateaux

A quick update after a sodden day in the Perigord. Some thoughts:

• Markets in this region are fabulous! There's a roving schedule where each town hosts an open-air or covered market once a week, selling local and seasonal produce as well as brocante (bric and/or brac).
  
• As we travelled from Quercy to Perigord the houses turned from white to golden, reflecting the change in local rock.
  


• The villages around here were built in medieval times (and sometimes before) when the rivers were the primary source of trade and transport.
  


• We've hit chateau country! There are some very grand houses and grounds to ogle as we cycle.
  


• We've come across many walkers travelling through France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This is a three month pilgrimage to the shrine of St James. Just follow the clams.

Cool green

It's hard to describe how lovely it is to ride through these woods. They're dark and cool and fresh, with groovy mosses and lichens and lots of ferns and undergrowth for little things to bustle around in.

And after slogging your way uphill for half an hour, there's nothing like a snakey downhill through the cool green to make you feel human again.

Quirky Quercy

So here we are in Quercy, following the Lot and Cele rivers (slowly) west. Great place to ride, with limestone cliffs, oak and walnut woods (there's truffles in them thar hills - but not until November), bubbling waterways and mostly peaceful roads.

The villages over the past few days have been extraordinary - the most striking either perched on hilltops or hugging rockfaces - some houses literally cemented onto the cliffs.

Many of the buildings are half stone, half timbered - built in medieval times and added to in subsequent centuries. Lots of turrets, cobbles and, oddly, beautifully constructed dovecotes.