Jacob van Lennep route, Part 36 (Gorinchem - Breda)

Wrong suitcase
Tuesday, August 19. Not only airlines sometimes change suitcases. This already happened in 1823 with carriage by carriage. On arrival at the lodging house in Gorinchem, Van Lennep discovers that it is not his suitcase, but someone else's that is waiting for him. Van Hogendorp advises him to immediately complain via letters, but instead Van Lennep tries to open the suitcase to"(...) whether it might contain better stuff\\\". In vain: the lock is too good.

Dike maintenance
The travelers take a trip with a dike supervisor. He tells them that the Empire once paid for all the waterworks. For reasons of efficiency, these costs have partly been shifted to the provinces. Since then, there has been an eternal debate between the national government and the provinces about who should pay for the costs of waterworks. As a result, dyke maintenance, among other things, comes to a standstill. According to the dike supervisor, the flood of 1820 (which flooded large parts of the Alblasserwaard) was a consequence of this.

Prediction
Van Lennep notes the prediction that similar problems are to be expected in 1824. He was only wrong for one year: at the storm surge in early February 1825, Groningen, Friesland, Overijssel, Utrecht and Holland suffered heavy flooding. Back at the inn, it turns out that Van Lenneps suitcase had been sent from Utrecht after all. The next day the two leave (after a bad breakfast and an even worse bill) for Breda.

River Gorinchem - Sleeuwijk puts you across the river. The ferry operates daily, from October to April it does not sail on Sundays.

Floor sources
-Jakob van Lennep," The Summer of 1823": Part 3, Chapter 4.
-Geert Mak, The summer of 1823 as a television series : episode 9.
-The walks through Brabant are not covered in the radio episodes.