Gent in the Sunshine

We had been recommended to go to Gent via the Old Leis, rather than the new cut, which is heavily used by commercial traffic. It probably takes a bit longer, but we aren't in a hurry and would much rather pass through nice scenery.


As promised, the scenery was fabulous, as were the houses - there is some serious money along this stretch of the river! We are now adding several of them to our "What We Will Spend Our Money On When We Win the Euromillions Lottery Rollover" list.


I would say they are better than the houses along the Thames. And all conveniently close to the water, so you can be really nosey as you go past!

 I rather like this one

I could live with this one too

We were able to moor right in  the centre of Gent, outside the City Brewery. First job - try their beer! I had the white beer and Stephen had the amber beer and both were great, if stronger than beer at home. They also do a "Inferno" beer, at 9.9%, which we decided against, as we didn't want to end up in the water.

Mooring fees paid and beer drunk, it was time to explore. We headed into the Historic Quarter (for some reason Gent has two quarters, Historic and Art, rather than four) and took ourselves round St Bavo's Cathedral, through the beautiful squares and along the canal.

Gent Opera House 

Emma spotted Father Christmas on his balcony (on his holidays?)

Next day we headed off in search of some playgrounds for Emma and a exploration of the Arts Quarter. We took a picnic lunch and Emma was able to make friends with a lovely little girl called Yulia and played happily with her for ages.

Next stop, the Gent Museum of Fine Arts, for a bit of culture. Amongst the very highbrow and worthy paintings, we found one with this guy in:

Emma pulls this face a lot, whilst telling us "Max (her best friend) taught me this!"

If you have never bee, I really recommend a trip to Gent. There is lots to do and see, great cafes and squares for people-watching. And great beer.



Criss-Crossing into Belgium

Much as we loved St Vernant, it was time to move on into Belgium. I've always been a fan on Belgium, but Stephen was viewing it as "a place to go through on the way the The Netherlands, with good beer".

True, but it's much more than that, beautiful scenery, great waterways, lovely chips. And good beer.

The route was mainly being used by commercial boats (called peniche) and we spotted one called "Emma"!

A peniche called Emma, carrying scrap metal

The border between France and Belgium follows the River Leis for quite a long time, but it actually follows the route of the old river, which has been canalised (straightened, widened and dredged), so you now end up criss-crossing the border several times before you get into Belgium "proper".

Our first stop in Belgium rather proves this point, as the marina was actually in Halluin, France. Walk across the bridge and you are in Belgium. Emma loved it there, mainly because the marina had a playground.

Due to high winds we stayed in Menen/Halluin for a couple of nights, visited the town and were able to get the washing done (such is the glamour of our new life - one of the first questions in any new town is always "I wonder if there is a launderette?").

We'd both been practicing our French as much as possible, but Menen, despite being on the French border, is in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, which really threw me and rather fried my brain.

There was a free music festival on in town which we had thought about going to, but Stephen heard some of the bands from the laundrette and decided there was a good reason neither of us had heard of any great Flemish pop/rock acts. Plus it was raining. Again.

Once the winds had dropped, it was on to Kortrijk where we were able to moor right in the city centre for only E8 per night!

The weather was good, so we hopped of the boat and headed into town.

Kortrijk is really beautiful, but the people are all so glamorous I felt woefully under-dressed, in my standard boat-clothes of jeans and a tee-shirt. Despite the cobbles all the women seemed to be wearing high heels (and staying upright) and everyone had beautifully coiffured hair. I felt a total scruff!

It did, however, have three free bouncy castles in the city centre, so Emma was happy.

It also has a very impressive belfry in the town square

And there was an international food market taking place, we were particularly drawn to the Italian sweet stand, below.

Emma also sampled a nutella-filled pancake. She loved it, even though she ended up wearing most of it!

Once back on the boat we meet our new neighbours, Barrie and Ruth Morse. As with everyone we've met on this trip, they were delightful and an absolute mine of information about boating in The Netherlands; I just hope I can remember everything they told us!

A Weekend Away (Part 2)

It seems a long while ago now that we were down in Watchet, visiting our boat, Pershilla, but actually it was only 10 days ago. However, what still seems very fresh in my memory was the wonderful meal we had at The Star Inn.

The Marina office staff gave us three recommendations, but said they thought The Star was the best.

So, after a short walk through the town we located The Star, right beside the old mill basin, where the river runs down to the sea.

The Star was a perfect pub, lovely atmosphere, good beer (CAMRA award winning), live music (but not too loud!) and fabulous food. Stephen had the honey roast duck and I had the game casserole, which was soon re-named "Roadkill Stew" in recognition of its ingredients - venison, pheasant and partridge. It was so delicious we had to ask for bread as we couldn't bear to let the gravy go to waste.

Once full of good food and good beer it was back to the boat. By now it was about -4c, but the central heating had kept the boat warm and the stew and beer was keeping me warm!