Belgium - The battlefield of Waterloo

It was always on the agenda, a visit to this epic battlefield that changed the course of history in 1815. Just south of Brussels, the topography is still much as it was almost 200 years ago.
Two short movies telling the story, a climb up the 226 steps of the Butte de Lion with an all round view of the battlefield, museum with a graphic all round mural of events and the main characters that shaped history. Well worth the less than 10 Euros entry fee.

The 'Lion Mound' from the car park

Going up those 226 steps

Part of the all round mural in the museum

We arrived in Antwerp Saturday afternoon (23/6/12) in lovely sunny weather, but this Sunday morning it is raining. At least we did a cycle into town on Saturday to the banks of the Schelde, right through a very busy and bustling central precinct with shoppers, narrow lanes and many cafe's.

Seems like an indoors day - waffles and dropped scones for breakfast and chicken curry for supper!

Belgium - Flanders

Our visit to Flanders, roughly the northern half of Belgium, bordering the Netherlands (Wes en Oos Vlaandere in Dutch) was revealing. It seems to be holding its own economically when other regions of Belgium seem to feel the economic crunch. Adapting Afrikaans to a more Dutch manner of expression has been a bonus as communication with people has been no problem. Many Flemish people cannot understand how a British registered motorhome has a Dutch speaker on board. The point being that the Brits are known throughout Europe to speak only English. We anticipate crossing into the Netherlands in the next week, so also no language problems there.
Escaping some rainy weather, we made a quick foraging into the Netherlands just east of Knokke near Breskens on the Schelde estuary - the gateway to Antwerp. Walking on the sea walls/dunes, others cycling and some sitting at beach cafes, each content in their own activity. The sheer scale of these feats of engineering never ceases to amaze.

On the dunes near Breskens

Parking for 200 bicycles on the dunes

Back into Belgium saw us staying two nights at this canal boat mooring site ....

.... with some qaint / odd art next to the moorings.

Belgium - Flander's Field

Some Foreign Field Forever England

We had this entire field, which could accommodate 8 vehicles, all to ourselves. So we did what comes naturally .... poured a glass of wine and showed the flag.

Belgium - Zeebrugge (continued)

A windy Saturday with gusts up to 37 mph, but we had a good walk around the port area, seeing the naval facility, cruise ship terminal and the Royal Belgian Yacht Club. The camperstop I counted has overnight parking for 20 motorhomes, with some staying two nights. If shipping rocks your boat this is a well recommended camperstop.

From fishing harbour to container port 

P&O Cruises Ventura

Moorings for the Royal Belgian Yacht Club

The container ship Thalassa

Above the Thalassa at some 350m in length shows one of the container ships currently in port.

There were a good choice of properties for sale around the greater port area, which must be indicative of the current financial constraints affecting the EU. Cafe's and bistro's around the yacht club moorings seemed to be trading as usual however.

Belgium - West Flanders

Our first night's stay outside Brugge was simply a starting point for our visit to West Flanders. It's a beautiful old city ringed by canals and a second visit will be made in the next few days.
Damme is a small village a few miles north of Brugge and cycling along the canals you come across all sorts of expressive art, such as the picture below.

Zuid Vaart (canal) near Damme

Knokke is clearly a holiday destination of note for the Belgians and the Dutch. The Dutch border is a few miles away and many cars have Dutch registrations. The beach is dotted with beach clubs, some quite grand with soft furnishings on the sand, bars, snacks and furnished beach huts. Membership of the Beach Club Monroe comes at £1000.00 for the summer months of July and August, which includes hut, two chairs, daily fresh towels, large umbrella and use of facilities. Staff were tanned, wore RayBans and spoke good English.

Beach club at Knokke

Zeebrugge

The port of Zeebrugge is well known for both goods and as a ferry terminal in Europe. We found another very well situated camperstop overlooking a major part of the harbour. Parked right in front of the designated motorhome parking area, we had a grand stand view of all comings and goings, providing many photo opportunities.

View of the port area - Fifi front left

Camperstop at Zeebrugge port

Memorial to Belgian soldiers in the port

Sunset over the docks, seen from Fifi

Crossing the Channel

We arrived at Dover's ferry terminal in good time for the 07:35 crossing with a few other motorhomes in the queueing lanes. Joan decided the 'van needed a last brushing of the carpet whilst we're waiting to board, so I got out to take some pictures. Getting back inside I noticed that I was treading seagull poo onto the newly swept carpet. Joan's comments cannot be printed.
Onto the ferry and we are right in front behind the bow doors, gathering flask and sandwiches for breakfast, when a lady approaches me asking whether we have a dog in the motorhome.
"No" I say.
"Well we have one, should I leave a window open?"
"Not a good idea, open windows can trigger the vehicle alarm" I respond. Their windows remained shut and pooch was fine when we returned after the 90 minute crossing. The tea and sandwiches were good too, saving us £20.00 on a ferry fry up.

The White Cliffs of Dover

Yes, raining .... exiting Dover, taken from inside the ferry lounge.

Approaching Calais

The road to the Belgian border took us past the beaches of Dunkirk and it was rain all the way into Brugge. We opted for a city 'camperstop' (budget option when campervanning) as suggested by Snoopy the satnav. Down the cobble stone streets of inner city Brugge we trundled in Fifi, narrow in places, squeezing onto the pavement here and there, passing lorries unloading goods, people looking and thinking we must be part of some marketing gimmick ....
Suffice to say we never found the camperstop but Joan almost found the limits of her sense of humour! We found another camperstop just outside the canal network, still allowing for an easy walk into town and a strong coffee for Joan and even stronger Leffe for me. All served at a lovely cafe on Markt square near the cathedral. Normality restored!

Overnight stop outside Brugge

Info and Tariffs

Back at the site I notice that the freshwater tap of the campsite is u/s. Joy o' joy! Things happen in threes. And they want 22 Euros for the night .... ?! I make for the attendant's office only to find it closed, so I opt for the intercom phone and I put my case. No problem says the fellow, use the water tap outside the campsite. So back to the 'van and out the gate to fill the 120 liter watertank. We left the next morning and made for Damme, between Brugge and Knokke. A delightful old village where we 'wild' camped (free stop) for two nights making full use of the cycle paths along the canal - in sunny weather! Cycling in Belgium, as is the case in the Netherlands and Germany, is done by many and is safe. Motorists seem far more tolerant and cognisant of cyclists than is the case in the UK.

Last day before crossing

We decided to spend the last two nights in Deal, Kent, which is a few miles up the coast from Dover. Joan spent time here on holiday with her parents (her mother was born in Deal and this is where her parents met and married) as a child and brought many subsequent visits to this seaside town over the years, the last visit in 1995. So in some ways it was a walk down memory lane ....

We also stocked up on tea bags (!) and did the last bits of preparation - as one does - before leaving for foreign fields. Deal has a lovely beach cycle path with views across the English channel and we made full use of this over the two days, stopping at times just to sit on the beach. Our campsite, wonderfully quiet and cheap, was a couple of miles from the beach, so access was easy.

Looking across the English channel to France

Watching a sailing regatta from Walmer beach 

'The Bath House' on Walmer beach in Deal

The 'Bath House' as Joan calls it used to be a public bath house dating back to Victorian times. It was converted to a residence in the 1920's and belonged to a Miss Phillips, whom Joan remembers, until her death in 2000. It was in this house where Joan spent two short holidays, the last in 1995.
Joan can be seen talking to the current owner who also knew Miss Phillips, a chance encounter when the owner heard Joan's voice telling me of her past visits there. Yesteryear's foot steps ....

The ferry to Calais leaves at 07:30 in the morning. Aiming for Brugge in Belgium for our first night on the continent.

The Female view (Part 2)

Quintessentially English ....

Here we are nearly at the end of our short (six weeks) tour of England and Wales. Arriving in Dorset from Wales to find warm sunny weather, I as many others did, thought the summer was here. Wrong, as the rain returned after five days, continueing over the Jubilee celebrations.

However, the good weather in Poole gave me the chance to plant up Caroline's garden and see my pots and plants I had in London go to a new home, and how good it was to get my hands in the soil again. Her garden had some established plants and shrubs and we could add, replant and change some of the outlay. A full day seems long but spent in a garden it is actually very short and I could happily have spent another couple of days there. The aches and pains after the day's hard work have all gone.

Then the Jubilee celebrations! I know we will all remember them for many years, we watched most of the celebrations and partying on TV, whilst visiting friends in Lincolnshire. On the Monday we all walked to the local pub where virtually all residents had gathered to have a photo taken commemorating the event. The anthem was sung afterwards and many joined a procession led by the Scouts' band and vintage cars, waving Union flags and finishing at the village green. A wonderful four days to celebrate our Queen's Diamond Jubilee!

Even Fifi flew the flag

A quick visit to our storage facility in preparation for our departure to the continent on Monday, to (ex)change some clothing items, was also made. Euro's have been drawn, washing have been done, and we are as ready as we can be. Monday 11 June 2012 at 07:30 we cross the channel to Calais, heading for Brussels. Can't wait!

Visiting Caroline

We spent five lovely warm sunny days visiting Caroline on the outskirts of Poole. Visiting at Caroline's is always socially busy with good food and the product of the vineyard de rigeur. She is in the process of moving house and Joan did some gardening at the new place, with me mainly supervising activities ....

Sitting down to a bbq and Chablis

Late afternoon sun, after cycling

Outside the SA goodies shop of an expat near Poole. Bought all our meat, braaisout, biltong, mieliepap and rusks from them

Fifi Le Van in the driveway of the new house

Relaxing in Caroline's conservatory after the day's gardening

Until the next time Caroline, visiting you is always a grand affair .... !