Postcards from Provence and beyond

Our summer of adventures has officially started, and after a couple of weeks apart, Andy and I finally met up again yesterday at Lille; me arriving by Eurostar from London and Andy by TGV from Avignon.

Of course, in what is quickly becoming a tradition, we failed to manage a romantic meet-up on the platform at the station. I appeared at one end, whilst Andy was at the other, and after 10 minutes of him going in one direction and me in another, our eyes finally locked, and we burst into giggles. Clearly romantic meet-ups are the things of Hollywood scripts, certainly not our life!

After finding our accommodation, in a small hamlet near the Paris Roubaix course, which is the reason for our visit, we opened a bottle of local beer and finally sat back to relax, falling asleep just before 9pm. We were ridiculously tired.

Happily, we have an exciting weekend ahead, with our first visit to watch the Paris Roubaix cycle race from the roadside, and will spend Saturday walking the course that arcs around where we are staying, watching the sportive. Then on Sunday, we’ll be out early, heading to the course to find a spot to watch the junior, men’s and women’s races pass by.

But today, we decided to hop across the border into Belgium, to visit the beautiful medieval city of Bruges.

It’s somewhere that I have wanted to visit for many years, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend a  few hours ambling around its cobbled streets, admiring the buildings that look as if they have fallen from the pages of a storybook.

We hadn’t really planned anything, so did what we normally do, and set off to explore by simply walking along streets and paths that took our fancy, hoping that we would see the main sights and get a sense of the off-the-beaten-path Bruges too. I started a route on Komoot, so I could always see where we were and we set off.

We parked on the edge of the town, by the main station (3€ for 24hrs, which seemed a bargain) and crossed the main ringroad, following a tree-lined path that took us along the river towards the Ghent Gate.

The moment we joined this path, it was as if we had stepped through a curtain that dulled the sound of the traffic (just the other side of the river). We stopped on a bridge, by the Gunpowder Tower, taking a moment to enjoy the early-morning peace of the Minnewater, which is also known as the ‘Lac d’amour’ .. lake of love

If you have followed my posts for a while, you will know that I do have a soft spot for local legends, and here there are a couple of explanations for this name.

The first is that the word Minne comes from the ‘Middle Dutch’ language, meaning ‘water spirit’. It was believed that an evil water spirit lived under the bridge at this place, which may have been linked to the regular flooding of the area, when the river here rose, threatening the city.

The second is that ‘Minne’ also means love, and the french translation became ‘Lac d’amour’.

The two interpretations couldn’t be any further apart, but whichever you prefer, this is an especially calm and peaceful spot, and we had to drag ourselves away, or we wouldn’t have seen much more.

We stuck to the river path, as far as Ghent Gate, where we turned to walk into the city, stopping for a much-needed second breakfast, buying something that looked delicious from a little bakery (I have no idea what it was called, but it was incredible) to go with our coffee.

Refreshed we then wandered on.

Our route took us into the medieval heart of the old city, along cobbled streets, where people on bikes of all shapes and sizes rattled past. Bikes are certainly the main form of transport here, from old sit-up-and-beg bikes, to state of the art cargo-bikes and even wonderful tricycles too. It was just lovely to be able to explore without cars.

As we ambled, we found ourselves looking up, more than we were looking ahead, or down. The architecture here is so different to anywhere we have visited before. Many of the houses are built of small ancient red-bricks with stepped roof-lines into steep or arched gables.

Others have been rendered and the weather-worn colours complement the neighbouring brick or stone perfectly.

In other places, wood takes the main stage, with wonderful old shop-fronts and exquisite wood carvings decorating the buildings.

There are also the spectacular gold highlights on the gothic buildings surrounding the Burg.

I don’t think any photo can really do it justice. The square has been developed over the centuries, with the different buildings reflecting the styles that were popular at the time.

The detail is amazing, and the dramatic 14th century Gothic structure is still home to the Bruges city offices.

We wandered past delightful old shop fronts – this old electric shop, now home to a florist

Noting the use of under-stated, elegant signs that added to the ambience of the city, rather than some we have seen in other places that detract from the beauty of the place. The Cat really caught my eye.

When we stepped off the main roads, we found quiet squares..

Peaceful spaces..

And exquisite views of the ancient buildings.

We saw the Bonifacius bridge, also known as the love bridge, which seems a bit odd, as there are tombstones built into its structure. Hardly most people’s ideas of a symbol of love

And enjoyed the melody of the church bells marking the passing of time, across the rooftops

It is an incredibly green city, with parks and squares, filled with colour from the spring blossom and flowers

And gardens that open onto the canals, with cherry trees in full bloom; their petals falling like confetti onto the water below.

By lunchtime, it was incredibly busy, with the tour boats filled with visitors being ferried along the canals

And tour groups, following umbrella-carrying guides like ducklings swimming behind their mother. All absorbed by the information on their headphones, following a well-worn path along the street.

It was then that we walked away from the heart of the city, following quiet streets and paths that took us alongside a canal, with no one else to be seen.

We found that whichever way we turned, the city was just as beautiful. The houses looked as if they had been designed for the top of a chocolate box, and it was just so wonderfully peaceful too.

We spent 5 hours in the city just wandering, sitting and watching the world pass by, and it was a delight.

Being in Bruges, we had to have a waffle, and plumped for one on a stick, coated in melted dark Belgian chocolate and chocolate shavings.

It was fluffy, warm and incredibly rich, but utterly divine.. and a little box of handmade chocolates to keep me going for the weekend found their way into my bag too, although it wasn’t these ones!

. There was even a chocolate shop, just for me!

All in all, it was a delightful day. The city is perfectly walkable, and we’re aware that we only really scratched the surface.

It was busy, but it’s very easy to understand why it is so popular, and we have added a possible return visit to the list for future cycling adventures.

It was a perfect way to start our long weekend in the area, and a day that we will remember for a long time.

So time now for a good night’s sleep and off for a long walk tomorrow to explore part of the Paris-Roubaix course and watch the riders taking part in the  sportive …

This should be quite a weekend to remember