The Meuse rises on the western edge of the Vosge Mountains in Eastern France near Nancy and flows roughly north into Belgium and becomes the Mass on entering Holland. This is the river I had such difficulty following as I entered Belgium. However north of Namur I found a bike path running right along the bank of the river. This has made a big difference to progress. It is not a dedicated bike lane but rather a paved access route that bikes are allowed access to. It's real purpose is access for industry because the Meuse is a 'working river'. This is not the type of 'working river' that my friends in Riverhealth know about. No, it is not a river that has it's flow pattern completely reversed and flow reduced to 25%. That's more appropriately termed a disaster!
The Meuse has heavy barge traffic often more than 100 metres long, it has numerous quarries, Nuclear power plants, cement factories, steel mills. In one location I was riding through coal slurry. Yet for all of this, there are parts that a spectacularly scenic. From Namur to Liege, the Meuse flows through a gorge of dramatic mudstone cliffs.
At Liege, I lost the bike path. Negotiating big cities is always problematic with a bike. At one stage I was on a freeway! Fortunately it was Saturday afternoon and traffic was light. Central Liege is a bit of a construction site at the moment as they are building a big new railway station. It is a big industrial and transport centre linking Germany with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. In spite or perhaps because of it, the central area along the river is very elegant with lots of stylish apartment blocks facing the water and rows of plane trees. Rather like an extended top end of Collins Street.
The river by this stage is about 150 metres wide and looks reasonably clean. However, I don't know if looks is enough!
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