Our first challenge this morning is getting both cars from the lower yard back onto the public road. They have to go up a slope with fine gravel, which is not easy. Eventually we rake away the gravel to get a grip, and thankfully we succeed. We packed everything up again to go to the next location. From France to Belgium. It is ten o’clock when we are on our way to Biache-Saint-Vaast. I cycle alone today because both cars have to come with me to the new location in Izegem, a hundred kilometers to the north, in Belgium. An extra flag on the boom bike for safety and there we go, on our way to Lille. Richard follows with car and trailer and Sanne drives the e-camper to the first town where we have coffee, in Henin-Beaumont. But before we get there I cycle quite a bit on a bumpy farm road. What a wonderful silence, except for the buzzing sound of the tree bike, but I’ve gotten used to that. A little later a group of enthusiastic cyclists pass by who love the cycling tree. I cycle through a somewhat cluttered area, at least it feels that way. Lots of variety, small business parks, wild homes, indeterminate fields, rich and poor places. Lots of criss-cross roads, rail lines and so on. Lots of urban influences and lots of contrasts. We come near Lille. In the town of Loos, it is now three o’clock, we eat a sandwich next to a car wash. We are all a little tense it seems. Maybe our sugar levels are a little low this close to three, or maybe it is the border zone we are approaching between France and Belgium. Who knows? A sandwich does the trick. On to Lille. Richard cannot follow me here by car because the route goes along the water and through parks. It is quite a puzzle to keep following the right route, and when the railroad underpass indicates two meters seventy I really have to adjust the route. The people here in northern France react variably to the tree bike. From super enthusiastic to surprised and even indifferent. As if they don’t see the tree bike. As if they are busy with much more important things. And of course that is possible. I cycle west past the center of Lille. A beautiful park ‘de la Citadelle’ with old trees along the canal ‘de la Deule’, with many walkers. When I unexpectedly come across a wedding I give a tree for the bride and groom. It is a zig-zag route through neighborhoods of Lille, Saint-André-lez-Lille’. The contrasts are great, and that affects my mood I notice. It is obvious, of course, that the nature of the environment has a great influence on the people who live there. But how much influence does the quality of the living environment, or lack thereof, actually have? You certainly feel it, but it’s hard to pinpoint, what influences what now. The underlying laws are hard to read, and it is about much more than form. Food for thought it certainly is. As I cycle out of Lille on the north side, Richard is waiting for me. We re-enter the pleasant mix of villages and countryside. Until, in the second-to-last village before the Belgian border, Linselles, we park our tree bike next to the church. Enough for today, almost seventy kilometers. A well-deserved beer before we ride to our new residence in Izegem. Sanne is already there and dinner is ready. It’s good to come home. Tomorrow, Sunday, we cross the border with the tree bike to Kortrijk, into Belgium, the ninth country of our tour. I wonder how the Belgians will react to the boom bike. We will see and experience it tomorrow.