8th - 10th July ’07 – Dunquerke – Bruges
Rosi’s blog
I still can’t actually believe that we’re going to be doing this for a year – we both feel very relaxed and it seems easy to settle into a Nomadic existence (albeit with the comforts of a Hymer van which now feels like home). We’ve stayed on Aires for a week and have now left our stunning view over the sea at Dunkerque, and are on our first proper campsite, in Bruges – oh the luxury of a washing machine, power showers etc!

Many thanks for the blog comments – it’s lovely to hear from people, and we’re trying to reply as and when internet connections are strong enough. Our email seems easier to access, so you can send messages there too.

We spent some time cycling around the fabulously flat and well-marked Dunkerque cycle routes, particularly the vast dock area. It was originally laid out by Louis X1V’s engineer and still follows that foundation, (although it was destroyed by the British during the war, taking 6 years to rebuild, to become bigger and better). I found it full of exciting things to see, from massive oil-tankers going through locks and being ‘steered’ by a 1/4pint tug, to lifting bridges, enormous cranes and sand dunes. (See pic – those of you with good eyesight will note that Sheffield Wednesday fans get everywhere!)


















We also watched Le Tour de France – well, really, we saw a blur of bright colours whiz past! In fact, Le Tour kept haunting us through Belgium, via the many road blocks and diversions it created. By the time we got through it all, we completely missed Bruges, so spent the night beside a canal in a small village. Am very impressed with Belgium’s successful integration of cars, lorries, trams, bikes and pedestrians on its thoroughfares, while the vicious road humps are very effective at slowing traffic down! I hadn’t appreciated that Flanders was soooooo flat.

We cycled the 3 km into Bruges this afternoon – and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s a very special city, full of history, art, canals, impressive architecture, winding streets - oh, and hundreds of bicycles. It’s all highly photogenic and choosing only a few pics was a challenge! The best 2.5 euros we spent was to see the the Stadhuis – a fabulously impressive building both inside and out. It’s Gothic Hall was just stunning, with beautiful murals depicting important events in its history.

Bruges (meaning ‘bridges’, apparently) seems to be constantly being built and rebuilt, with the old and the new working well together – we’re going back for more tomorrow!