Flanders - October 2019

Flanders
France & Belgium 
October 2019
We were like kids in a sweet shop


After weeks of planning the day had come for our first trip to Europe in our benni, the plan was to meet up with our good friends, Norman & Jean at Clacketts Lane Services before travelling down to Dover together.


 Sunday 27th October

Having packed the van last night there wasn't a great deal to do before we left, just topping up with fuel, we left Kidderminster at 9.38am and made good progress down the M42, M40 and M25, a few miles before the services we came across Norman and Jean in front of us on the motorway, we called into the Services at Clacketts Lane on M25 for lunch, we hadn't seen them for months so was a lovely reunion, we had lunch then continued our journey down to Dover.


The sight of the white cliffs and the sea was great and we were getting really excited, being a Sunday, the ferry port was relatively quite and check in was straight forward, we were directed to our departure lane to wait for embarkation.
As I turned off the engine our excitement was amplified, we were like kids in sweet shop.




We boarded the DFDS ferry and left spot on time, the crossing was uneventful, we had an early tea in the ships cafeteria, which although not cheap was very good, as we had lots of catching up to do with Norman and Jean the two hour crossing went very quickly.




Our initial drive on French roads took us to our first nights stop, we had already planned to use the 'aires' for overnight stops, we drove the short distance to Graveline and parked in the 'aire' 
Not using them before Norman & Jean gave us the low down on what we need to do when using them, the Graveline aire is on the side on the river and there were a few vans already there but plenty of space.
We settled in and decided to take an early night as it had been a long day.


Monday 28th October
Woke at 7.00am after a good nights sleep, with blue skies and sunshine, I took another look around this small aire, it's in a really nice location by the river, all for 4 euros.
We had breakfast on the aire and decided before moving off we would take the short walk in to Graveline, it is a fortified walled town with ramparts and moats, leading off the main square is the 'arsenal' which house the towns museum and has art works within the grounds, we walked the walls taking in the great views of the town, after we went into the town square again and wandered around for a while window shopping.




Returning to the van we made our way to Grande-Synthe just north of Dunkirk to do a spot of shopping to get food for the next couple of days.
We had lunch, there is nothing better than the first bite on a real French baguette, with pate, rillettes and cornichon.
After we traveled over the border to Belguim and to the cite of Bruges, Norman took us directly to the town aire which unlike Graveline was right in the middle of the town by the canal and was barrier controlled, as it was early afternoon there were plenty of spaces but as were had a cup of tea it started to fill up, this aire has EHU, water, grey and black water waste.

After an afternoon nap we walked into town for tea, it was great to see the town by night, with all the buildings lit up it was stunning, we found a small bistro and had a lovely three course meal with, of course, beer.  Before returning to the van we walked around the town taking in all the atmosphere.




Tuesday 29th October
Woke 8.00am, croissant and baguette for breakfast before walking in to Bruges along the canal to the old windmills, then taking the side roads we walked back into town, 


where we stopped at a cafe for a couple of beers watching the boats on the canals, after we made our way into the main square, Norman & Jean wanted to take us to a chocolate and waffle shop they had found on a previous trip, the shop was very small and had to wait a short while to get a table, but the wait was worth it, a bowl of hot chocolate and freshly made waffles, Adele had one with hot cherries and for me butterscotch sauce, delicious.
We made our way back to the van, we have seemed to have walked miles today, so a little afternoon snooze was in order before going out to eat tonight.
Now refreshed, changed and hungry again we made our way back into Bruges, we found a restaurant we went to on our first ever trip to Bruges many years ago, Maximiliaan Van Oostenrijk, the meal was great, Norman and myself had the butchers plate, lamb, steak, turkey, sausage and pork all bar-b-cued on an indoor charcoal fire, we even had to inspect it to make sure it was cooked as we liked it, all washed down with, well yes, a couple or so more beers, we weren't really counting.




Feeling really stuffed we returned to the van via the narrow streets to walk off some of the food.

Wednesday 30th October
Woke at 8.00am, breakfast was baguette and croissant again I really do miss this when at home.  We were moving on today so after filling with water and emptying our tanks we traveled out to Ypres (Leper), checked into an aire attached to a campsite next to the sports complex, then, after a cup of tea we walked into town via the old walls through the town to the Menin Gate, a splendid yet somber monument to the fallen in WW1, inscribed with over 54000 names of soldiers who died in Belgium who do not have a known grave.


We returned to the van for an early tea as we were to return to the Menin Gate at 8.00pm to attend the last post ceremony held every night since 1928.
A very moving evening, school children, army cadets and tourists stood silently as the last post was played by three buglers, an emotional scene at any time but especially at time just before Armistice Day.  We returned to the vans with little to say.





Thursday 31st October  
Woke at 8.00am, breakfast then after emptying tanks and filling with water we move on to Passchendaele Memorial Museum (21.00 euros for two), giving the history of the battle of Passchendaele, the museum was very good and the audio devices we had were great. Outside the museum there were reconstructed trenches and under ground bunkers but although very good it couldn't give the  actual conditions the soldiers had to live in, it must have been horrendous.



We had lunch in the campervan area of the car park, sun shining through the trees, birds singing, a different world today to what it must have been a hundred years ago.
After lunch we made the short trip to Tyne Cot Cemetery to pay our respects, the cemetery was kept immaculate, walking past the neat white grave stones and along the memorial wall with nearly 12000 names carved in the stone its difficult not to shed a tear or two.


It was getting late by now, we decided to return to the aire at Graveline for tonight so as to make it an easier trip to do shopping before catching the ferry home tomorrow.
We arrived at the aire at about 5.00pm, had tea and then joined Norman & Jean for a tipple and chat about out first trip in the new van, the drink and nibbles were flowing and before we knew it it was time to retire.

Friday 1st November
Woke 8.00am after another quite night, after breakfast we went shopping, first to the super U at Graveline then to the Auchan at Grande Synthe, here it was horrendously busy, had to wait to get a trolley! we managed to get some of the things we wanted, wine, cheese and French groceries to take home. Onwards to Dunkirk and the ferry port, eventually checked in, Norman took the wrong entrance and had a tour of the lorry check in, we met up eventually in the loading lanes where we had a quick bite to eat before being loaded onto the ferry. 

After leaving the French coast behind we went to the cafeteria again for tea, chicken tikka with naan for Adele and beef lasagna with garlic bread for me, £9.50 a tad expensive but nice and tasty.
We arrive back at Dover and after going through customs without a catch we made our way to Canterbury for our last nights stop over. we once again joined Norman & Jean for a tipple before bed.

Saturday 2nd November
Woke 8.00am, had breakfast, dropped waste water then paid at the park & ride for the overnight, we said our goodbyes to Norman & Jean, it had been a wonderful few days away, full of laughs, we never seemed to stop talking, we had quite an emotional time at some of the monuments we visited, something I think everyone should do at sometime.
We traveled alone back up the M40 stopping only for a spot of lunch at Oxford then continued home.

A wonderful first continental trip with such good friends, we had such a lovely time, great memories for the long winters nights.

Trip Details
Mileage: 631
Ave MPG: 33.4
Camp Fees: 61 euros + £7.00

* * * 


We put our holiday photos in to small slideshows and are uploaded on to our YouTube Channel, benivanadventures, they are not professionally produced but give a feeling of the area and places we visit - Click on the links below




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