About

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If my memory is a house,
with a million steps.
Every single step,
houses a special memory.

Some steps stay forever.
Some slip after years.
Some get lost before,
they become a trail.

But one of my oldest trail,
is called the Modern Grand Tour (MGT).
With a bright memory staying forever.

At a young age I remembered that I always looked up in the sky when I heard airplanes flying over in Amsterdam! During those moments I always wondered where all these airplanes with passengers were going to and what if I could follow them. A sort of Emmenez-moi au bout de la terre (Charles Aznavour).

When I got eighteen years I was fortunate to to be admitted at the Katholieke Hogere Hotelschool in Maastricht and this was maybe my ticket to follow the Impossible dream (Frank Sinatra).

I started working at the Holland America Line and probarly 25 years or more I have lived out of a Samsonite suitcase with my inseparable and unforgettable friends Sony Walkman, -Discman, –Minidisc and Apple Ipod.
During those years I have indeed followed many airplanes over the whole world and collected a library full of experiences and memories.

On december the 31, 1999 around 18:00 o’clock I stopped working globally and adapted my life locally. I settled down in a small village called Henri-Chapelle with the most beautiful view over le Pays de Herve in Belgium.
And from that moment I started to discover the Euregio Meuse-Rhine on foot, taking lots of pictures and usually finishing with a local beer.

In the autumn of 2021, during COVID time I decided to string these walks & hikes into the 1st long distance trail in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine and to broaden the idea that walking & hiking this Modern Grand Tour (MGT) in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine should be essential to give a person’s view and character a better finishing touch.
Like in the old days when travelling was also meant to broaden their horizons providing social polish, awareness and exposure to other cultures.

Also I would like to support the thoughts and dreams of the famous ancient Austrian writer Stefan Zweig!
He wrote in “Appeal to Europeans of today and tomorrow” (1932) that the European ideal is only nurtured day in and day out by human relationships, which exceed the national borders, through the sharing of culture and knowledge.
Stefan Zweig meant when people from different countries get to know each other’s histories, languages and cultures, mistrust can give way to understanding and Europe can feel like a second home.
But if we only learn about history through the study of wars and conflicts, it can drive us apart. Just dreaming and discussing won’t get us there, he realized.

So start walking!

Till today I continue walking Comme d’habitude (Claude Francois) with my 2 doggies Nyak and Tessa.
This website is ongoing improved and maintained.