"Who is staring at the sea is already sailing a little."
Paul Carvel
First port-of-call after passing uneventfully over the border from France into Belgium was the West Flanders seaside town of De Panne. Home to the longest tramline in the world, The Belgium Coast Tram, running since 1885, runs from the De Panne on the French Border to Knokke-Heist, said to be the San Tropez of the region, on the Dutch border.
For six Euros a person, tram riders merrily hop on and off over a 38 mile route that packs in Dutch and Germans in summertime, but apparently not too many British or American travelers. Imagine that — one charming young waiter in a beach-front restaurant we stopped in at for lunch declared us his very first from the U.S.
Having spent my childhood summers squashed into my parents' station wagon (estate car in Brit speak) alongside my three siblings directly en-route to sun-drenched, fondly remembered camping holidays by the beaches of the South of France, a left turn at Calais from the Eurotunnel, along the North Sea was a first for me.
My British/Italian/American family of five and our oldest son's girlfriend were reuniting in the Flemish medieval city of Bruges for a five-night vacation-within-a-vacation. My youngest, London-based sister and her two daughters were joining us for two of those days.
Seeings as we weren't necessarily in search of elusive sunshine on our travels, coming from 100 degree heat at home, we'd quite fancied the more typically moderate North European summertime climate for a few days respite. As it turned out, it was hot and humid the entire time, except for one spectacular evening thunderstorm with lightening and rain.
We walked the wide and pleasant promenade of De Panne, taking in rows of neat little beach huts in various hues, following a light lunch of croquettes, croque monsieur, frites and the first of oh, maybe quite a few samplings of the roughly 800 Belgian beers on the market today.
An hour later we'd navigated (with the help of a GPS system in the rental car) a maze of medieval streets to find our temporary home-from-home, a beautiful second-floor 15th Century, beamed apartment in the center of Bruges.
Meandering canals, cobbled streets and immaculately preserved Flemish architecture provide a picture-perfect city break made for walking and/or cycling.
Summertime crowds aside, to stand in the heart of the city in the Markt, or market place, dominated by the towering Belfort, a medieval brick belfry made famous in recent years by the film In Bruges, is a bucket-list moment for international art, history, chocolate, beer and culture lovers alike.
Belgium produces over 220,000 tons of chocolates a year, I wondered how many tons it produces of its national dish, moules frites — briny mussels served in a large saucepan with a bowl of comforting salty fries with homemade mayo. Flemish beef stew's every bit as popular, both a staple of every menu in the city's hundreds of restaurants, the best of which, are the neighborhood eateries, on a myriad of streets off the central plazas and beyond.
My favorite backstreet find was this delectable little (and provenly delicious) Transylvanian-style "Chimney Cake" pastry shop.
Sorry to say we're not much of a chocoholic family, so the top-notch chocolate shops, though eye candy enough, failed to entice in the same way as the tempting Trappist ales, mussels, stews and another Belgian speciality — waffles.
Wednesday morning is market day in Bruges. The three most popular varieties of Belgian waffles are: Liege waffles, Brussels waffles, larger, lighter, rectangular and enjoyed with chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries or ice cream and slimmer, softer, breakfast Galettes.
Belgium boasts many of Europe's most outstanding collections of visual art. Fifteenth Century artists — Flemish Primitives, Old Masters Hubert, Jan van Eyck, Quentin Matsys, Hans Memling and Rogier van der Weyden were the first to popularize the use of oil paint.
I particularly appreciated learning more about the history of ‘Flemish tapestry’, Belgium being the principal centre for tapestry weaving at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Today, the cities of Bruges, and Ghent are magnets for modern day artists from around the world. Wandering residential areas of Bruges was every bit as captivating, culturally, thanks to the artistic residents of such an enchanting and inspiring place.
"A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought".
Mikhail Barysnikov
In May 1624, "Nieu Nederlandt", a ship chartered by the West India Company, arrived in sight of Manhattan Island. The ship carried around 30 Belgian families, no short irony that they founded New York given that the medieval city of Bruges was, in fact, the Manhattan metropolis of its day.
Bruges’ beauty saved this architectural treasure trove from being destroyed in WWII, when German Commander Immo Hopman reportedly refused to carry out orders from his superiors to bomb the city.
Part Two — Cycling From Belgium to Holland, to follow.
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