DRAWING UP A PLAN - FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST - GENT

So here we are, with roughly three weeks to go, and roughly three days from “home”, contemplating the irony of having to allow roughly half of our allotted boat time as a contingency against flood, fire, drought, pestilence and more likely, breakdown of canal infrastructure which may or may not create significant delay.

With a longer visa, that last month is simply absorbed into the programme, but at present to us at least is seems outrageous, particularly as nothing unforeseen has fallen from the sky!

We’d “planned” to get back to base, pack our things, and have a bit of a road trip at the very end, but as we strolled downtown in search of provisions, something reminded us that while there is nothing wrong with the quality of produce in Belgium, there are also plenty of fresh vegetables to be had in France.  As we aren’t short of friends we can visit in that general direction, our plans changed in an instant.

Armed with just enough foodstuff to get us through the evening and perhaps till the middle of tomorrow, we returned to the boat and logged on to the internet and typed in a very specific search term:

“Car Rental Companies - Ghent (Gent )”