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

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

Lead white
The previous evening, Van Lennep drank a few glasses of Burgundy wine to which white lead had been added. A trick that has been used for centuries to sweeten sour wine. Nowadays, lead white may no longer even be used as a pigment in paint, because it is very harmful to health. No wonder 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 continued their journey on foot. They pass Amerongen Castle, and in the Betuwe they walk past cherry and apple orchards. In Tiel they move into a lodging house and take a trip to Zoelen, among others. Van Lennep doesn't eat anything, because"(...) the poison (the white lead, ed.) still worked\\\".

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

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

Floor 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.