I am leaving for Mons and want to see the famous Strepy-Thieu boat lift. I follow a road on Google Maps via my iphone and end up on a dirt road. Via a detour I still get to the ship lift, it is raining softly.

On the way to Mons, via Bois du Luc. First towards Chatelet, on the way I pick up the path along the Sambre, one more time through that decor of twisted steel and stagnated mastodons ... I pass old and new buildings and see a

Again north, now I follow my nose and instinct, I go where it looks interesting. When I get around I see that I'm at Dampremy / Marcinelle, where I was last Friday and Saturday. It is warm, little movement on the street, many houses are

I cycle from my hotel in Sambre-Basse in a northerly direction. I try to stay in the direction of the airport, but as usual I get stuck in car routes, streets where I am not allowed to cycle or where I prefer not to cycle

When I come outside it drizzles, I cycle slightly downhill towards Chatelet. I find the station again, the infrastructure has been renovated, the houses are often just as rickety as they were then. It is quiet, a black cat and I are the only ones

Arrival in Charleroi, the hotel is on the ring road, immediately the bustle of the city. After I have brought my things to the hotel I cycle around a little awkwardly. In the center it is busy, there are many people in the streets sitting