Veurne to Bergues

Saturday 23 May to Monday 25^th May

Veurne to Bergues - 30.2kms

After a quick trip into town to stock up on some essentials (read bread, cheese and cold meats) we said a sad farewell to Ian and Sian and headed off through the nearby Ieper lifting bridge and onto the Nieuwpoort – Dunkerque Canal on our way to France. A pleasant enough trip with the major attraction being the dozens of shops selling cigarettes just before the border.

And then it was through no-man’s land and into France where we were greeted at the lifting bridge at Ghyvelde, just two and a half kilometres into France, by a red light and an operator who could not speak English! It will never cease to amaze me that some cultures seem to pride themselves on their multi-linguicism as much others prides themselves (or is it only the French?) on mono-linguicism. Anyway, the problem seemed to be that we were too far away from the bridge to be seen although we had just watched a barge pass under it and could clearly see the operator in his glass office. No, we had to pull up to the small jetty right below his office so that he could pop over and read our vignette number before giving us a cheery wave and opening the bridge. In retrospect it makes sense as this was the first ‘official’ point of entry between Belgium and France.

Changing the Colour.

 Eventually, after having figured out how the automatic lock at Dunkerque worked (drive in, find the yellow control hanging down the wall, push the button and things happen. No tying up, engines off etc.) and getting a bit of fright as we exited the lock and crossed a quite fierce current, we made it onto the Canal De Bergues for a scenic trip down to the old walled town of Bergues.

The walls of Dunkerque

Canal De Bergues

Main gate into Bergues

Ramparts

NOTE:

1. The Port de Plaisance is not where it is illustrated at N50.971139 E2.422467 in some guides – in fact there is nothing there at all despite the advertising boards seen on the way there.

2. If reversing back from trying to find the non-existent port like we did, you decide to do a 180 degree turn like we did, be careful to avoid the submerged, very solid structure under the ramparts at N50.971514 E2.424982, like we did not.

3. There is a stone jetty at the first old city gate, all kitted out with mooring rings but you may not berth there. Twenty metres away, opposite the next old city gate, is another wooden pontoon (N50.971721 E2.429087) with a single electricity and water cabinet with two taps and six plugs situated right at the end of the pontoon so if you are furthest away, make sure you have a long lead. 4. A key to the box is available from the tourist office in town and at €7.50 per night (plus 22c per person per night tourist tax) for unlimited water and electricity it is a bargain!

Bergues is a delightful old town, just the right size to have everything one could want (read boulangerie, patisserie, chacuterie, cafes, a cave, an abbey on the hilltop and a lovely town square.

 

Hilltop abbey, largely destroyed during the Revolution

The Marie

Bergues is also a short 8km ride to Dunkerque a city with which we were quite disappointed for some or other reason (exacerbated by having missed the Small Ships event and especially their departure back to the UK the morning we visited) – however we managed to purchase Lebara internet data/phone cards and we had a great meal (Lynn, mussels with bacon, cream and mushrooms [same ingredients as a chowder and pronounced delicious] and moi, a chacuterie(?) being pork sausage, slices of side of pork and a pork ‘salami’ served on a pile of sauerkraut, accompanied by potato – very, very good!

Old public baths in Dunkerque

Back to Bergues: Like many of the places we liked the most, basking in the atmosphere tends to make us forget to take photographs but believe me, it is well worth visiting.

 This guy took about half an hour to set himself up, spent about five hours catching nothing and then left after depositing his beverage cans and their plastic wrapping into the river - pig.

On our second day we were breasted up by the ‘cruiser yacht’ Enterprise owned by Stephen Free and crewed by his English mates.

Our mooring with Enterprise breasted alongside.