Back to Winter

Thursday 7^th March to Monday 11^th March 2013

It seems that as soon as we have set foot back in the place the weather has decided to make us forget about the perfect weather that we have had and subject us all to a (hopefully) last blast of winter – this time the cold was even more intensified by the strength of the wind.

The conditions were such that the very last place anyone wanted to be was on the other side of the inside. We were very cosy out of the wind and away from anything resembling fresh air.

At least I was happy to stay where I was but it appeared that we were in “desparate” need of provisions – down to our last 4 gallons of milk and last side of beef – we had a space in the freezer and also in the fridge; the outdoor fresh food locker was a little below the top, so what did we absolutely desperately need to do – that’s right – go and shop.

It was not just to buy a few things – the trolley came back bulging as were the other two bags we carried – I was dragged along as was poor Banjo – although he would follow Diane anywhere, anytime – I am sure that he could have dragged the trolley along and I could have remained warm.

Anyway he had a vested interest – we really did need to get some dog food for him.

The weekend came and there was no respite from the conditions – I felt a bit like a postman (just couldn’t find one) – neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor anything else below 0C would stop me being sent out for the weekend papers – just had to make sure that I had made the coffee for her and that she was comfy in bed before I left – the dog wasn’t too keen about going but my attitude was if I had to go so was he.

The last Monday afternoon coffee meeting went ahead – it was actually not too bad inside the hut – if the door was closed tight.

Paul and Elaine put in an appearance – they moored above the lock on their way back from Stafford Boat Club after blacking the boat – so good to see them and of course Bombo and Sammy.

I forgot to put this in the blogs about our trip to Brugge. 

The hotel toilets for the women were being renovated whilst we were there and so they had arranged for the male toilets to be used by both sexes – now obviously there are more places to use in a male toilet than a women can usually or wish to use.

I needed to use the facilities whilst there so thought nothing of it until I opened the main door and there was one of our travelling party waiting for a cubicle – she said that there was a little bit of a wait, to which I replied that I only needed to use the urinal – it must have got very warm in there as  sudden reddish colour came to her face and she asked if I wanted her to step out – I replied that it didn’t concern me at all. I got on with what I needed to do – to great relief as well.

When I had finished and turned around I found that she had gone – I am sure that I was discreet enough and in any event she would only have felt sorry for Diane.

After washing and drying my hands I exited and found her outside with another woman – they made their way to the door and this second woman’s husband had now joined them, to whom she said “John, I don’t think  that you are going to be comfortable with this.”

bloodee Anglais

Wednesday 6^th March 2013

Our final day here in Brugge, but we were off early for a tour by boat of some of the canals – as we know things always look different and we feel better from the water and having seen a bit of the city already we can confirm that it was indeed a much better way to see the city – certainly easier on the feet.

The driver/guide was well practised in his art and gave us a history of other buildings we had not already seen and a bit of comedy thrown in as well.

all views from the water

After the boating, we had some time for a bit more sight seeing – Diane wanted to see the museum for the hospital in Brugge – a place where during WWI a certain upstart corporal in the German Army was treated for wounds – it is said to be the reason why Brugge was spared any action or damage in WWII – so impressed was Adolf Hitler by his treatment there and his love of the city.

The museum was a little disappointing from a medical viewpoint, but it must be remembered that for much of it’s life as a hospital it was really an extension of the church and pastoral care rather than medical care was about all that was able to be undertaken.

more of the art on general display around the city

We had packed our cases early and deposited them in the arranged storage area in the hotel, so it gave us a little more time to wander around and sit and appreciate the sunny weather before we finally departed.

The swans of Brugge are well cared for and well protected - they
represent a reminder the history of actions taken in haste.

Horses and cariages are in healthy numbers around Brugge.
So you need to be careful when walking around and move out
of their way - also be careful of the many cyclists

The bus trip back to Lille was without any delay and the same level of efficiency was on display – this has been a great mini-break for us.

Once in the station we were able to grab a table as it was vacated – the eagle eyed tourists that we are – also gave me a chance to practise my French on the barista – he was able to understand – he also knew that I wasn’t French – but I continued, what was in my mind as being, excellent francaise – could almost have been a local – we would have survived on coffee and baguettes – I can’t order anything else.

Time approached for the train and so we were off to the rituals of immigration procedures – the French officials were there checking passports – obviously making sure that these people violating the language were leaving quickly, and then only the British delegation who knew a British version of the European passport when they saw one (Diane was straight through), but for anyone else there was the perfunctory “fill out the paperwork” (you could almost hear them saying – “you foreign git”) – I think their thought process is –

“if you are not British then you must be French, so we want to annoy you a bit”

The man with the French passport behind me received the same treatment - a certain degree of comraderie.

I just hope that we Australians make it difficult for all of those Poms who want to see Australia – maybe we should be really mean to them and direct them to the flights to New Zealand.

The trip back on the train was not so much anticlimactic as just unremarkable, but we did make it back on time – must be a French driver.

I am feeling some empathy for the French; maybe when I look at getting residency status later this year I should apply to be French rather than British – Je suis français

IEPER

Tuesday 5^th March 2013

Forgot to mention in the last blog that the weather has been absolutely marvellous since we arrived – the air has been a bit cold in the mornings but fine and very sunny during the day – quite warm in fact, so much so that some of the time we had to remove our jumpers as well.

Today was the chocolate factory visit (no chance of someone missing that) and then the remainder was a tour around Ieper (Ypres) – this also could not be missed.

The chocolate factory visit reminded us of the need to be very discerning about our selection of chocolate and that the quality is matched by the price – I guess chocolate making is one of those things that we all think would be a nice occupation/pastime but in reality is very involved and very technically minded.

We caught a bus for the second part of the days activities around Ieper – it took about an hour to get there, so a chance to see a bit more of the flat countryside – saw a few canals along the way – very straight and quite a deal wider than what we are used to – there were a few flickers of a smile from Diane regarding cruising these canals; and a few minutes later came the inevitable “No we aren’t”.

Our first stop was Hill 62, one of the few hills in the area from where the occupiers had an obvious advantage over those attempting to move further down the hill.

The Hill 62 memorial - this was an area of fighting principally
involving the Canadian army

... and as such is dedicated to their memory

the trenches - life could not have been more unbearable than what
awaited above

Some of the trenches (or maybe recreations) were also there – following some recent heavy rain, the mud that was still there gave a dismal feeling to them and we certainly wouldn’t like to have been in amongst any of this; the visit here coincided with a busload of schoolkids (English) – they were very well behaved and well organised, but the suggestion made to one of the teachers about leaving the kids behind was greeted with a smile, a nod and a “maybe”.

Further on we arrived at the Tyne Cot Cemetary.

There is no documentary needed by anyone when it comes to war graves and cemetaries; having seen those in the Normandy area from WWII, these, though smaller individually, but much greater in number, from WWI give testament to the total futility of war and generations on we still wonder why it occurred and why it still happens.

There are so many graves marked as “Unknown soldier”.

The memorial walls list the names of those soldiers for whom there is no grave at all – their remains have yet to be found (some may never be found) - over 50,000 names are engraved into the stonework

After this we were off to the city of Ieper (pronounced “Eeper”) – this is the local name for the city, although the English name of Ypres has pervaded the books and articles about this city with this sad association.

Ieper

The Menin Gate in Ieper

read closely the inscription

Just part of the list of names of soldiers not yet found

We were told the story that during WWI it was completely destroyed – not one building left standing; the residents would not allow the war to remove their city in such a way, so they found photos of and plans for the buildings and rebuilt the city in exactly the same way as it had been – when you look at it, you can only marvel at their persistence and determination to bring it back to the way that it had been.

At lunch - with a raspberry beer - I think that
the thought was, as it is fruit related then it
must be healthy

Look kids - Mum's eating mussels

The poster for the film - located in the hotel. We managed to
see the movie when we came back

To Brugge (or somewhere else maybe)

Sunday 3^rd March to Monday 4^th March 2013

You could literally set your watch by the Eurostar – when it says it leaves at 12:58pm then it leaves at exactly that time and it arrives when it is scheduled to.

We cleared French immigration before getting on the train and apart from the fact that my passport photo neither has me with glasses nor a beard did not cause any problems to the lovely immigration officer who had to check me through – she just had a bit of a giggle and a smile.

At a little over 1½  hours to Lille the trip went surprisingly quickly; our tour director introduced himself to us on the train and we met as planned once off the train – Gard du Lille is not one of your classic train stations – a bit cold in temperature and in style.

The bus was there and it was a matter of 17 minutes after the train pulled into the station and we were all on the bus; luggage safely stored; and we were away - could not believe it.

The only problem that we had was a car accident on the motorway we were on – in amongst the area where roadworks were taking place – this held us up for about an hour, but not any fault of the tour company.

The hotel was excellent and the room that we had was really quite large – bigger than we have in a great many years – very clean and given that they had to cope with 38 English tourists and us 2 Australians, the staff were exceptionally good – we didn’t need to fill out any forms – this had already been done for us by the tour company so we just had to say our surname and a set of keys appeared in our hands and some simple instructions about where our room was and how to get there – excellent.

We had some time to get outside and have a bit of a walk around to start to orientate ourselves – we made it to the main square (only about 10 minutes away); found an ATM for some cash; Diane managed to check the frits and mayo off her list of things to do; and then a stroll back to the hotel for a quiet beer in the lounge.

The city square at night - some tourist in the foreground

A second tour group from the same company had just arrived as we came back and the same level of expertise for them as for us was present.

An excellent breakfast setup and the food was pretty good as well gave us a great start for the day.

I included this only because we saw it as an example of
common sense in that this man who was cleaning the awning,
did so with a minimal amount of "red-tape" - OHS was sufficient
for the job at hand.

Whilst the activities that were organised and available were by no means compulsory, they all gave us a chance to see things that we wanted to do.

Part of the view from our room

First up was a walking tour of Brugge and what better way to get a quickfire introduction to this city – a very small part of which we had been able to see.

The famed "Fountain of the three nags" - others apparently
could only see the two horses

It was quite comprehensive and quite easy on the feet; gave us a good idea about some of the history of the city and some of the more memorable landmarks.

About an hour after that finished we could then do a tour of the one and only brewery in town – couldn’t miss a chance to see the local product being made; to get some great views from the roof; and more importantly to sample the finished product.

One of the many pieces of art around the city - this one shows
Zeus leading Prometheus away with Pegasus

Apparently 1960 was a good year

View of part of Brugge from the roof of the brewery -  a fine
day and a view - where was the beer

We have been on tours of other breweries in other places so we were familiar with a lot of what happened but the lady in charge was quite comedic in her spiel and in was most enjoyable and the beer was good too.

The timing allowed us to be able to have the remainder of the day to ourselves and we took advantage of this by exploring further parts of this most beautiful city – part of its immediate charm is the buildings and for us the canals add the dimension that we always enjoy.

What's a canal without a barge - it this one big enough my lovely?

a working boat in action - on the mai canal around the city

I have been advised by the management that I needed to cull the number of photographs down to a small number, so I have gone through the 500+ that I took over the 4 days and decided to break them up into individual days; so those in this are for Sunday evening and Monday – there were plenty of other nice ones that missed the cut.

We were a bit tired by the end of the day as it had all caught up and so we had a fairly early night.