Friday 14 September 2018

Seaside nostalgia

I have a bone to pick with the weathermen!

In the week before our holiday, they all raved about the gorgeous late Summer weather we would be having, and I'd already mentally packed a suitcase full of Summer frocks. By the end of the week, however, things had quite literally cooled down considerably. They even managed to squeeze in a rainy day in the middle of our holiday!

Now, what to pack? Even if we were only going for a week, I needed to consider all options, including the fact that they might easily have got it wrong again. Panicking, I chucked in all kinds of everything, including lots of cardigans and a variety of things to layer underneath. For good measure, I packed not one but two raincoats!


The sky we woke up to on our first morning held a definite promise of rain, and indeed, even before we finished breakfast we could see the first raindrops making tiny concentric circles in the pond.

In spite of the inconclusive forecast, it looked set to be an utterly miserable, grey day, the kind that drains everything of colour.

Not to be deterred, we decided to go to the seaside as planned, so I provided some colour of my own by wearing a sky blue patterned dress and orange cardigan. As a nod to our destination, I added a sailing boat brooch.


It rained on an off while we were on our way to the small seaside resort of Westende. Parking our car in a free car park in De Panne, the seaside town nearest to us, we continued our journey on the coast tram, which travels all along the Belgian coastline, getting off at Westende-Bad about 40 minutes later.


Hemmed in by an encroaching army of ugly high rise apartment buildings - the curse of the Belgian seaside - this delightful villa on a busy road in Westende is a throwback to a bygone era.


Built in 1922 by architect Oscar Van de Voorde for a doctor's family from Ghent, Villa les Zéphyrs gives us a taste of how a well-to-do family would have spent their summer holidays on the Belgian coast in the 1930s.


Entering the house from the adjacent modern extension housing the town's tourist office, the first room you see is the amazing bathroom, with its sunken marble bath, terrazzo floor and tiles featuring the popular thistle motif of the era.


I think I may have gasped upon entering the dining room with adjacent fumoir (smoking room) which could be closed off with a pair of plush rose red curtains.

Turquoise tiles and brass adorn the splendid fireplace, complementing the original wood panelling and sideboards.

All of these are much older than the house, as they were designed by renowned Art Nouveau architect and designer Henri Van de Velde in 1889. They were only attributed to him in 2006 after the director of the design museum in Ghent found the designs in the catalogue of the furniture workshop ran by Van de Velde in the late 19th century.


This to-die-for Art Nouveau cabinet caught my eye in one of the other downstairs rooms, as did the two fabulous light fittings.


More treasures were to be found in the basement kitchen, the domain of the family's personnel.

The framed January page of a 1934 calendar was advertising some of the soaps we have on display in Dove Cottage's kitchen!


Upstairs there was an array of seaside holiday related items, including some fine costumes and a poster advertising a sandcastle competition complete with its rules.


Another eye-catching feature are the highly decorative stained glass windows with their floral motifs.


After leaving the villa, it was time for lunch, so we walked into the direction of the promenade.

Soon, the light but consistent drizzle had blurred my glasses but although we were carrying umbrellas, we were reluctant to open them, thinking we'd soon be inside.  So, we plodded on, walking the length of the rather forlorn and deserted promenade in search of place to eat, in the end settling for the only decent looking restaurant, which by then we'd walked past twice already.


The windswept beach was empty apart from some seagulls huddling together after a meal of mussels left behind by the retreating waves.

Making use of the restaurant's facilities, I almost did a double take when I noticed this strange, wild haired creature staring back at me in the mirror. The wind and drizzle had conspired with the salty sea air in providing me with a unwanted new hairdo. No amount of patting would get it to lay down, and as I didn't have a brush or comb in my bag, this is how my hair would look like for the rest of the day.

I'm sure it wasn't just my colourful attire which made people stare at me!



The rain had thankfully, if only temporarily, stopped by the time we left the restaurant, so we briefly walked along the beach, taking in lungfuls of bracing sea air. We still had the place almost to ourselves, with only the gulls and a handful of other people foolhardy enough to venture outside for company.

Apart from the two of us, some welcome colour was provided by a lonely yellow striped beach hut rather uselessly advertising deckchairs and windshields for hire and a shop displaying a garish array of buckets and spades, which nobody in their right mind would be buying on a day like this.


After our exhilarating walk, we retraced our steps to the tram stop for our return journey, but before returning to our car, we made another stop along the way.

Near the seaside resort of Koksijde are the ruins of a Cistercian monastery. The so-called Abbey of the Dunes dates back to the 12th century and was abandoned in around 1600.

From 1949 onwards, excavations and painstaking restoration campaigns have unearthed the abbey's foundations.


A separate, modern museum, with scale models, dummies and multimedia presentations is doing its best to bring the past back to life. This wasn't so much our cup of tea, especially the many waxwork tableaux of monks, some of them looking creepily lifelike. 


Dotted around the domain, there were several of these forbidding looking giant red monks. Apparently they are by an artist called William Sweetlove and made of plastic.


Children of all ages could be entertained with the various games laid out along the approach to the ruins.

We decided to try our hand at a game of skittles. It took Jos only one attempt to knock them all over. Look at that action photo! Needless to say, clumsy me was totally crap at the game!

And with that, I am leaving you for now, hoping that you will join me again on for the next installment of our holiday.

I'm linking my seaside outfit with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style. Do go and check out the other visible ladies!

30 comments:

  1. My first apartment as an adult had a sunken bathtub like that-it was beautiful but oh so dangerous getting in and out. Was a wonder I never broke my neck!

    I rather like the red monks-wouldn't mind one for the garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh wow! My first apartment - if you can call it that - didn't even have a bathroom, which was more than compensated by my second abode, which had a clawfoot bath! xxx

      Delete
  2. All those art deco details were scrumptious!

    I would have failed at the bowling too. Fun that they had the games that you could use.

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm notoriously bad at games, I might be one of the least sporty people in the world! xxx

      Delete
  3. Sorry about the weather for your day at the seaside But what a splendid house to have a look around! Love your colourful outfit. XXX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda! We tried not to let the weather spoil our holiday, and it wasn't so bad, really, in the end. xxx

      Delete
  4. oh the villa!!!
    they would need 2 football champs to get me out again ;-D just beautiful! but the art nouveau cabinet looks like something that comes to life after dusk.....
    searching for restaurants in tourist land can be a hard task - that could be us, trotting up & down in the rain.
    the ex monastery was huge! love me quiet ruins - but no laud museum please :-D
    hugs!! xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had an inkling you would love the villa, but you might be right about that cabinet, it does look a bit scary. xxx

      Delete
  5. I am surprised you didn't have one of your famous berets tucked into your handbag to deal with the hair crisis, Ann!

    The 1920s house was wonderful and the Art Nouveau cabinet just exquisite. What a feast for the eyes the whole house was - fabulous!

    I loved your outfit and the brooch was perfect.
    xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now why didn't I think to take a beret! I could have wandered through that house for hours, but they were closing for lunch and would have had to chuck us out! xxx

      Delete
  6. Oh wow Ann! Wonderful. I love all this art deco details.You look amazing in this orange cardigan and I love your hair in the wind ;)
    Oh yes please more holiday pictures.
    A very huge hug, Tina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Tina! I have to add, though, that my hair was like that the whole time, even without the wind ;-) xxx

      Delete
  7. I'm sorry you had bad weather. But I am always happy for any day when I don't have to work, good weather or bad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How right you are, Ally! We certainly didn't let the weather spoil our fun! xxx

      Delete
  8. How dare it rain on your holiday! What a beautiful seaside destinations, the architecture is splendid , quaint and gracious. I adore the antique cabinet and also that stunning fireplace.
    Love your wild hair.. a fun wind blown look, and needing 2 raincoats is a good thing in my book. Lol .
    ❤️ Elle
    https://theellediaries.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How dare it indeed ;-) Fun windblown look is one way of putting it. I hope you don't mind borrowing that for the next time my hair is a mess :-) xxx

      Delete
  9. That villa is amazing, Ann! That bath is fantastic and the decor and fittings are gorgeous. The Abbey ruins look so interesting too. Not so keen on the creepy looking monks though! ;) Hope you're having a great weekend, Ann. XXX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The villa was tiny, but we still spent a lot of time exploring it. There were gorgeous details everywhere! xxx

      Delete
  10. Your lovely orange and blue ensemble more than made up for the dismal weather.
    Tourist resorts in the rain can be depressing but the lovely villa you showed us must have brightened your day.
    After a week where the weather felt like summer had ended, it's been a lovely warm weekend, I hope it's been the same where you are. xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Typically, the weather started improving once we were back. We still had a great holiday, anyway. Glad you liked my orange and blue ensemble, Sally! xxx

      Delete
  11. Oh, I am ready to move into that lovely villa (or at least abscond with that glorious Art Nouveau cabinet - WANT)! The rains are starting here too - so gloomy! Must wear bright colours!

    Have a great week, Ann!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been wanting to visit the villa for years, and I'm glad we finally made it. Definitely worth having a rainy day for! xxx

      Delete
  12. Did you plan to match your outfit to the outside of the villa, with its orange roof and blue paintwork?! Perfect pairing! I would love to see that villa, from the front door to the sunken bath. A shame about the weather, but it looks like you had fun anyway. Thank you for keeping your fingers crossed for my PhD deadline xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to say that I planned the outfit, but I didn't. I hadn't even noticed until you pointed it out! It's uncanny, isn't it? xxx

      Delete
  13. Your blue and orange outfit with a sailboat pin is so charming! You and Jos look so delightfully colorful. The weather has been fickle here too, here is hoping that Indian Summer awaits!

    I am in love with that amazing villa! All the details are so beautiful - the wallpaper, the tiles, the furniture... my favorite decor era, 1930s...

    I am looking forward to your new holiday installation, and I am always interested in seeing your everyday outfits (which are always out of ordinary!).

    Lots of love!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Natalia! I'm actually not dressing very differently whether I'm on holiday, at home, or at the office! We did have a brief few days of Indian Summer, but today it was very autumnal, and I got caught in the rain. xxx

      Delete
  14. I love that villa! It's so pretty. I'm amazed they didn't have to pull you out of it. I don't think we had much art nouveau here in the UK, certainly not at 'ordinary person' level, so it always looks tremendously mainland European to me, just a little exotic and exciting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knew this would be your cup of tea, Mim. And they almost had to chuck us out when they were closing for lunch! So glad the interior, and indeed the whole villa, survived. xxx

      Delete
  15. The Ghent house is absolutely lovely, I thought it was a doll's house at first, it's so at odds with the modern buildings dwafing it.
    What a shame about the weather. We were told to expect a late heatwave too but it seems to have turned from Summer to Autumn almost overnight. Not that that affected your trip. Jos and you look like you had a whale of the time despite the inclement weather.
    I love that wonderfully old fashioned beachfront and the gaudy array of plastic beach toys. I'm always drawn to them! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does indeed look like a doll's house ... And I too love an old fashioned beachfront, even though there aren't many left here in Belgium! xxx

      Delete