Fiery Night

TL;DR : Fiery, but cold

After a 35°C kind of day with equally enjoyable conditions working from home in the attic, an evening drive felt quite appropriate. 

With a former colleague just arrived in Liège to work here for a year, I thought we could take the Caterham to the Ardenne and grab a drink.

The trip started with us driving in circles through a maze of roadworks. It was basically impossible to go South without resorting to driving on the highway.

As I had removed the side screens for maximum effect, it would have been no fun at all. 

That's how I drove east with the idea of having our drink in Spa. Along the way, we were able to see the wildfire of the High Fens, that began on that afternoon. We stopped once or twice to take some pictures.

After a beer in Spa, we continued our way to the East, again guided by roadworks that blocked the roads I know best.

Up top, the smell of wood fire. It was getting cold as well, and we were only wearing shorts and t-shirts. I pulled the heater valve fully, and we opted to get closer to the High Fens.

Jalhay, the village that's basically the gateway to the High Fens, was closed to traffic. I went left in direction of the Gileppe dam (and lake). We passed two tractors towing large water tanks. There was little doubt about what was happening: local farmers were pumping water from the lake to feed the firefighters on the front. 

Eupen was mostly closed too, again due to never-ending roadworks. We got around and drove in direction of Monschau (Germany). 

We stopped midway with an incredible sight. We kept a safe distance, making sure not to hamper the emergency services - whom we didn't actually spot all night, proving just how far from the disaster zone we stayed.

The drive through Germany was short, as I took the first road back to Belgium and Malmedy. With the wildfire still in sight.

At that point we were getting very uncomfortable, because of the cold. We got the half hood on. It helped a bit.

Back in Belgium, we were close to Botrange, the hotspot of the weekend to come. Nearly 3400 hectares would burn in just three days. The biggest fire Belgium has ever seen. We passed a bunch of tractors with large water tanks again, this time coming from the Robertville lake.

Thank dog the road to Malmedy was open, after months of roadworks on the Robertville dam. So we drove down and through Malmedy, then on the straight of Masta, part of the original 14km Spa-Francorchamps circuit. 

Through Stavelot, then Trois-Ponts... A stop at the Coo waterfall, not getting any warmer. There had been an explosion of some WW2 ammunition just two days prior, with 3 people injured.

Getting back to Liège by the hills rather than following the valley was a really good call, it really felt toasty up there.

I got my friendly colleague back in Liège, it was a very busy and festive night and weekend int the city, he wouldn't have slept much anyway.

Finally back home at 4 am. We drove and chatted for 6 hours that night.