Well it feels like it.
It is Wednesday morning in Aix en Provence. At 6.15 am on Friday we set out by car for Ypres in Belgium. We arrived 10 hours and three petrol/toilet stops later, having travelled the entire north/south length of France. Grey sky, windmills, perfect roads and well behaved traffic. A dream trip really.
As you approach Ypres, which is to all appearances in the middle of nowhere, the place names start to ring bells of all those WW1 battles you have heard about and never really understood. The landscape is tidy, flat, and utterly bleak at this time of year. But Ypres turns out to be a fairy tale village, albeit with a grim past.
The language is this part of Belgium is Dutch so Johan is quite at home. Our B&B is great with a friendly owner, and right in the middle of town. So we go to a restaurant he has recommended for a very good early dinner, then to Menin Gate for nightly Last Post ceremony. The names of fifty-five thousand soldiers who have no known graves inscribed on this beautiful structure. Lots of people. Plenty of tears.
Sorry, I am still in the midst of travel blitz so will post photos later.
The next day we visited commonwealth memorial, grave and battle sites. All incredibly emotional, even though my grandfather actually survived. The Museum in Ypres details the battles in this area, which were in the end completely meaningless but cost 10s of 1000s of lives, and destroyed many more. Go looking for Passchendael Ridge, the scene of one of the most famous battles, and the “ridge” turns out to be nothing more than a slight rise in ground level that in NZ we would not even notice. Horrible, but more of that when I have the time.
Saturday we drove to Antwerp, which is a beautiful city, and acted like proper tourists wandering around town, and visiting the Stroom Museum. We even wandered, quite accidentally, into the very extensive red light district. Only realised when we peered closely at red lighting in shop fronts and saw that the goods on display were real live naked woman. Next morning did quick tour of beautiful Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings and houses before heading for Oeffelt on Christmas Eve.
BTW, typical Belgium food is crap – don’t be persuaded to eat it. Go somewhere that cooks something you recognise.
Sunday morning left Antwerp and headed first for Eindhoven to visit – wait for it – the first Albert Hein Supermarket, a “model” supermarket apparently. It was certainly the nicest, if not the biggest, supermarket I have ever been in. I was a bit disconcerted though to find they had a policy that refused Mastercard payment. Outside I had my first olie bollens – seasonal treat of deep fried dough with raisins and icing sugar. They tasted great, but came from a street cart, when Johan encountered a couple of very rude fellow country men. This was only his second encounter with his countrymen, since Eindhoven was our first stop in the Netherlands. The first being with the supermarket staff who would take neither my MasterCard, nor cash at that particular counter. But after that every other Dutch person we met was lovely!
Christmas eve and day in the tiny village of Oeffelt with Johan’s relatives, Phil and Nollie, in their lovely home in the south of the Netherlands. On Christmas Day we went to visit his sister, Virini, in Apeldoorn and went with her and husband Gerrit, to the Krüller-Möller Museum in the magnificent De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Wonderful art and sculptures, including a big Van Gogh collection, and (my favourite) quite a few Mondrians. Apeldoorn is where Johan grew up, so lots of stories and memories. Then back to Oeffelt for a magnificent dinner, and me exhausted by sensory overload.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we drove first to Nancy in north of France, where we stopped at the best patisserie ever, but really to hunt down another Art Nouveau collection of buildings. Nancy very interesting and well worth another visit. But the drive there was through the most industrial part of the Netherlands and northern France in the dark and mostly pouring rain. Then we had to drive all the way back to Aix. Arrived home last night at 9 pm after huge traffic jam in Lyon, and one motorway accident. Not the dream run of a couple of days earlier but not bad.
Today getting a bit organised for return home, but tomorrow off to Agen to stay with Sylvie for two nights. Will take in a bit of Toulouse on the way. Then one more sleep in Aix and we are on our way home.
There is much to write about in what I have seen and done over the last few days, but it will have to wait. Just wanted to let you know I am still here.
Bonne Anniversaire – think of me up in the air flying through multiple time zones on New Years Eve.
Love Linda
Happy New Year many times over. Please say hello to Sylvie for me. xxx