Jacob van Lennep route, Part 30 (Rhenen - Nijmegen)

Tobacco fields
Monday 4 August. Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp continue their journey by stagecoach. That sounds idyllic, but in the eighth TV episode Geert Mak explains that travelling by this means of transport (although reserved for the rich) was really hard work. Just before Elst, Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp look out over the Willem III tobacco plantation. A view that you can no longer find anywhere else. After the Second World War, tobacco cultivation disappeared from the Netherlands.

Lead white
The night before, Van Lennep had drunk a few glasses of Burgundy wine to which white lead had been added. A trick that was used for centuries to sweeten sour wine. Nowadays, white lead is not even allowed to be used as a pigment in paint, because it is very harmful to your health. No wonder that Van Lennep feels miserable. In Amerongen, he does not touch his lunch and crawls into bed for a sleep that lasts almost twenty-four hours! The next day, Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp continue their journey on foot. They pass Amerongen Castle, in the Betuwe they walk past cherry and apple orchards. In Tiel they move into a lodging house and make a trip to Zoelen, among other places. Van Lennep does not eat anything, because"(...) the poison (the white lead, ed.) still worked\\\".

Walking weather
The next day Van Lennep walks with Van Hogendorp over the dike towards Nijmegen. He is delighted with the surroundings: the river and fields, the orchards with nuts and fruit, the lush meadows with cattle, the fields and many spires that he sees in the distance. From Lent he enjoys the evening, while enjoying a pipe, the view of Nijmegen and the surrounding hills.

There are two waterways on this route: the Amerongen - Eck en Wiel ferry and the Pomona foot and bicycle ferry. The Pomona only sails on Sundays between 1 April and 30 September. Outside this period, you can cycle from junction 83 to 85 and 86 to continue the route.

In-depth sources
-Jakob van Lennep," The Summer of 1823": part 3, chapter 3.
-Geert Mak, The summer of 1823 as a television series : episode 7.
-Maya Schepers, The summer of 1823 as a radio series : episode 8.