We had picked out La-Roche-en-Ardennes as our next stop as it is central to a region we wanted to explore. After a wet but easy drive we arrived around 1pm at a large campground. When I went to check in and asked for 2 days I was asked if I had a reservation. The campground has over 200 spots, but once again we have blundered into a 4 day weekend we did not know about. Tomorrow is Assumption Day which is a holiday here and since it falls on a Thursday they are also given a “bank” holiday on Friday. So instead of a quiet campground where can come and go from easily we are in a campground that is completely full. We were thinking of staying here Friday also, but right now we are on a waiting list!
Last year we had visited Bastogne which is only about 25 kilometers from here to tour the WWII battlefield. La Roche was also fought over during the Battle of the Bulge. It was overrun in the initial attack by the Germans and then re-taken about a month later by a combined American and British force. During the battle the town was pretty much leveled.
It is a nice town clearly geared towards tourism. The main street is restaurants and souvenir shops. At one time there must have been a lot of American tourists as there is even an “American Store” in town. But today we appeared to be the only Americans in town.
While we were setting up and walking to town 4 Belgian Air Force F-16’s put on a little airshow at low altitude for us criss crossing the valley several times doing simulated bomb runs. We were also lucky because we got a little break in the weather for our stroll. It had rained most of the way to the campground and as soon as we got back it rained again.
Once the rain began we hunkered down in François and watched the village that is the Benelux campground grow around us. Watching people move in and set up their homes is always cheap entertainment in any campground in the world.