Including Bergues 11-18 September Our friends Rachel and Grant and their daughter Amelia joined us in Dunkerque, and we had a pleasant few days with them on our trip back into Belgium. Before our next guests arrived we had a days, getting the boat ready, doing shopping and a bit of relaxation. Earlier in the year Howard had bought a fishing rod, and he caught his first pike with it. We also visited the next lock and the local cemetery. As well as civilians there were war graves from both WWs, including French as well as Commonwealth and a memorial to the missing too. Grant Rachel and Amelia arrived on Friday evening somewhat frazzled, as their journey from Paris had been disrupted, firstly by a metro strike, and then by a fatality at Gare Du Nord that resulted in all trains being cancelled for a couple of hours. However it was great to see them and catch up. Saturday we had a trip, firstly to the Operation Dynamo museum (explaining the evacuation of troups from Dunkirk in 1940), and then into town. Howard and Grant cycled, but Rachel, Amelia and I caught the free bus. On Sunday we cruised only a couple of hours to Bergues which is a lovely walled town. We had a walk around before lunch and then Grant Amelia and I did a bike ride around the perimeter walls. Amelia used one of our new fold-up bikes which was perfect for her. Grant had to carry our bikes up a few sets of stairs as I am still quite limited in the use of my arm. The town was badly damaged during WW2 but they have rebuilt much of it, although they said they couldn't afford to rebuild exactly the same. On Monday we set off to Verne. We had had to let the lock keeper know in advance what time we would get to the mobile bridges. Our choice had been 11am (meaning a 8am start), or 1:30pm. We assume that was because they took a break for lunch. We chose the 1:30 option and left at 9:30, aiming to have a break for lunch while waiting for the bridge. But first we had to navigate the self-service lock. This required us to pull a chain which was hanging only a few feet from the lock gate. A tricky manoeuvre for our large boat, especially as it wasn't working. In the end we called the phone number and someone came to work the lock for us. Waiting at the lock In spite of the delay we still got to the mobile bridge before 1pm and had plenty of time for lunch. The lady arrived to open the bridge right on time, but unfortunately she forgot the keys and had to return to Dunkirk for them, so we had an additional 40 minutes wait. After that it was smooth sailing into Belgium with both Grant and Rachel having a turn at steering. After a short wait for the mobile bridge in Veurne we finally got to our mooring at about 4:30. It was a very long day. The next morning Grant and Rachel visited a couple of museums and had a look around town while Amelia stayed on the boat with us. In the afternoon we had a walk around the town including a visit to the Saint Walburga church. In the evening we went out for dinner and in the morning had pancakes, before walking with Grant Rachel and Amelia to the station for the start of their trip back to Paris. Good friends of our Tim and Jo on Maria of Zaandam, are wintering in Veurne so we were able to catch up with them while we were there, including a nice meal on Wednesday evening. Veurne Port with Maria of Zaandam on the foreground
3 Comments
Karen Melchior
20/9/2019 02:45:47 pm
I enjoy your blog very much. Your photography is outstanding. Looks like you both enjoy barge life! It suits you. Sending love...
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Steve Hugo
22/9/2019 07:45:20 am
Way to go Howard getting your first pike. It's a fish on my bucket list.
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Ian
29/9/2019 01:15:43 am
Every time we’ve passed that lock we’ve had trouble. Never noticed or used a chain though 🤔
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