Holiday with a hurdle

It's been exactly a month to the day that we exchanged Dove Cottage for our home away from home in Poperinge on Sunday the 21st of June.

However, as my blog title suggests, it was definitely a holiday with a hurdle. In fact, what with Jos's fall earlier that week, it was nothing short of a miracle that we even made it to the cottage which first captured our hearts back in 2012.

As a result of some gentle exercise and the benefits of the cortisone-like tablets he'd been prescribed, Jos's knee had healed sufficiently by Sunday, so that he was able to drive without any pain and walk short distances with the aid of his walking stick.

He was even able to climb and descend the eleven stairs leading up to the studio apartment above owner Marino's carport, albeit slowly, taking it one step at a time.

A hurdle in quite a different form would be the impending heatwave. With the temperature expected to steadily climb into the 30s, this would rather limit our options.

After our luggage was lugged upstairs by yours truly, we made ourselves at home and sat downstairs in the shade with a cool drink and a view of the flat-as-a-pancake landscape beyond the domain's duckweed covered pond.

Serenaded by a chorus of frogs, we'd slept like the proverbial logs, waking up still sleepy-headed around 8-ish on Monday morning. 

A glimpse through the cottage's French windows made me grab for my camera to catch the landscape beyond the pond veiled in a thick layer of fog. In front of the pond, three of the domain's four lawnmowers were already hard at work. Once the midday sun made it too hot for any living creature to bear, they retreated to their den under the trees and wouldn't be seen or heard of until she'd made her slow descend towards the horizon.

Not having made any plans whatsoever, we decided to take the short drive to the nearest of the Commonwealth cemeteries to our cottage. 

Only 5 minutes up the road, we would actually have been able to catch sight of Nine Elms British Cemetery from our cottage's balcony if that weeping willow wouldn't have blocked our view.

Entrance to the rectangularly shaped cemetery is through an archway with the Cross of Sacrifice visible in a central position at the far end. 

The cemetery contains 1556 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 37 German war graves from this period. There are also 22 Second World War burials, all dating from the Allied retreat to Dunkirk in 1940.

The cemetery, which was begun in September 1917, was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

Having walked the length of the cemetery, Jos was in need of a sit-down, offering the perfect opportunity to have a look at my outfit.

- Black and white diagonally striped max skirt: C&A Summer sales 2025

- King Louie t-shirt, necklace, belt and fake snake bag: charity shopped

- Butterfly brooch: AKotee (gift shop near my office)

- Hat: flea market

Leaving the cemetery, we continued to a small local supermarket to stock up on food and drink, after which we returned to the cottage for lunch.

The afternoon was spent having a lengthy siësta and reading. Note how my literature of choice matches my skirt!

On Tuesday morning, we were rudely awoken by a single thunderbolt followed by the pitter-pattering of rain against our windows. The rain lasted all the way through breakfast after which the mercury had dropped to a refreshing 21°C. 

Breakfast, by the way, consisted of softly boiled local eggs, obviously eaten with the obligatory soldiers!

With the last of the raindrops evaporated into thin air, it didn't take long for the temperature to reach 30°C (and beyond) again. 

Before it became too hot, though, we drove down to the one of the local woods for a walk.  The so-called Sixtusbossen (or Sixtus woods) are a 300 hectares complex of woods, which is cared for by Natuurpunt, the largest Belgian nature conservation organization.

There, I left Jos sitting on a shady bench while I went for walk based on the area's numbered walking map. 

Although signposted, I was a bit reluctant to take the overgrown path on the top right, which looked like it hadn't been walked on in ages. Still, I persevered, accompanied by the fierce barking of a dog who seemed to live behind the hedge on the right. I met the creature in question at the end of the path, where it turned out that the gate for the garden it was in stood widely open. Probably sensing my fear, it bared its teeth and continued its barking, which had turned quite menacing. I tried to remain cool headed and slowly proceeded along the tree-lined path on the bottom left, quite relieved that it didn't decide to follow me. Phew!

Back at the bench where Jos was waiting for me, I discovered that I'd lost my walking map somewhere along the way. Knowing the final numbers by heart, I hadn't made use of it for some time, so I had no idea where exactly it had made its escape. Nevertheless, I'm blaming the dog!

As the loss of the map would even further limit our options, we drove down to Poperinge in the afternoon to acquire a replacement from the tourist office in the town's buttery yellow neo-Gothic style town hall. 

Just look at that deep blue sky!

Before returning home, we stocked up on ice cream and cold drinks at the local supermarket.

Back at the cottage, we sought out that shady spot in front of the pond again, where we sat and sampled some refreshing alcohol free beers.

I was wearing the skirt I officially declared as my most worn this Summer in my previous post. It made no less than two appearance during our holiday.

- Skirt: Think Twice, March 2025

- Retro style naive flower print t-shirt: pre-blog high street sales bargain 

- Cat brooch: Katshop

- Spanish fan: charity shopped

That evening, we sat and watched the sun go down on our balcony before calling it a day and enjoying another night, its soundtrack once more provided by the resident frogs. 

 

With ever increasing temperatures of around 34°C forecasted for Wednesday, it was cool cottons to the rescue. 

I was wearing the tropical print tiered C&A skirt (a C&A Summer sales bargain in 2019) I'd worn to travel in on Sunday, its companion a green peasant style broderie anglaise blouse, picked up in the New Look sales several years ago. I was still in my slippers, which obviously I exchanged for sturdier footwear for the walk we'd planned that morning.

Armed with our new map, which we made sure not to leave out of our sights, we drove down to another wooded area, the Galgebossen, which lies about 8 kilometer to the Northeast of Poperinge.

Once arrived and parked, we left our car in the care of the local band of chickens, one of which seemed to have taken a shine to it.

We did a wonderful 6,5 kilometer walk here back in September 2022 but, although Jos declared himself ready to join me, we limited ourselves to a shorter version of just over 2 kilometer.

It was absolutely heavenly to walk on a succession of sun-dappled woodland paths, although the regular patches of sticky mud and puddles rather took us by surprise.

After a rest and refuelling at a little brick barn turned shelter with a view of a dew pond ringed by ancient pollarded willows, we embarked upon the return route.

Having guarded our car so diligently, we were ever so sorry that we'd come empty handed and were unable to reward the chicken with some tasty bites.

Thursday - and our last full day at the cottage - dawned all too soon.

Another scorcher with highs of 34°C, I was glad I'd packed my bag with lightweight heatwave proof clothes only. My fuchsia crinkly tiered skirt came out to play again, this time worn with a butterfly sleeved Zara blouse I'd charity shopped a couple of years ago. My string of multi-coloured beads was picked up from the charity shop here in Poperinge in September 2019.

With the temperature becoming more and more unbearable, we were at a bit of a loss what to do that day. That is, until Jos suggested another visit Talbot House in Poperinge.

It wouldn't be our first visit here. Our penultimate visit was back in September 2024, while I first introduced you to this wonderful place in September 2016.

Here's some potted history. 

Talbot House was opened in 1915 by British army chaplain Philip Clayton as a soldiers' club. During the Great War, Poperinge was part of unoccupied Belgium. Away from the turmoil of battle in the Ypres Salient, the town became the nerve centre of the British sector. Talbot House provided rest and recreation to all soldiers coming in, regardless of their rank.

It is still run by British wardens, aided by volunteers, and all visitors are offered a cup of tea or coffee, included in the ticket price. 

We got talking to that week's group of volunteers, who came from Bruges and whom we delighted with our knowledge of their home town. While I briefly explored upstairs, one of them accompanied Jos to an exhibition space in the garden where, courtesy of aircon, it was mercifully cool. He then came to look for me telling me where he'd left my husband.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the cottage once more and spent a very sweaty and uncomfortable final night before loading our car and driving back home in the morning.

With our UK holiday fastly approaching, I hope I'll find some time for another catch-up before we leave. If not, thank you for reading and see you on the other side!

More Bruges wanderings and a fairy-tale castle

This is the view which greeted us upon waking up on our second morning at B&B Het Soetewater. The morning fog was about to make way for another unseasonably warm and sunny day. The sun was gently illuminating the trees standing guard in their Autumn finery at the back of the meadow, the resident sheep playing hide-and-seek with the lingering veil of opalescent mist.

 

All traces of fog had disappeared into thin air by the time we were ready for breakfast, leaving a bright blue, almost cloudless sky in its wake.

Before making our way to the breakfast room in the main part of the B&B, we briefly wandered around the garden to admire the dried papery flower heads of the hydrangeas and the Michaelmas daisies which were still in their prime.

So, breakfast! You'll be glad to hear that Jos's appetite had returned, so that he was finally able to sample some of Veronique's delicacies. As you can see, he could hardly wait until I'd taken a photo of our breakfast table!

We'd decided on a day of two halves, starting with a morning of wandering around Bruges.

After once again leaving our car at the 't Zand car park, we now proceeded to walk into the opposite direction, taking a left turn instead of a right like we did on Thursday.

We had no agenda for our wanderings, our only aim being to soak up the atmosphere of this picture perfect UNESCO World Heritage city, which on this gloriously sunny November day, with its dome of cerulean blue sky, was looking particularly dreamlike.

And so it was that we found ourselves at the Leeuwenbrug (or Lion's Bridge), which crosses the peaceful Speelmansrei canal, where two almost pussycat-like lions are gazing towards the Belfry. 

The current bridge dates from 1627 and was built by Bruges master mason Jan de Wachter. In 1629, the parapets were decorated with two lion statues crafted by sculptor Jeroom Stalpaert, their front paws proudly resting on a shield bearing the gothic B of Bruges.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the lion on the western parapet was pushed into the water and replaced by a new one. In 1955, the second lion was replaced due to the poor condition of the stone.

Recently, the shields have been restored to their original appearance. During annual maintenance, it was determined that they were in urgent need of restoration. While cleaning, two different shades of blue were discovered. After further investigation, supported by a historical photograph from the image bank, it became clear that the darker shade of blue was the correct finish, so that the decision was made to repaint them in their authentic colour.

Soon our wanderings were making us thirsty, so we found a nice little café, called Salé et Sucré, where Jos enjoyed a glass of his favourite alcohol-free beer, while I opted for a cappuccino. 

Jos's beer came accompanied with a bowl of crisps which he devoured in no time. If that isn't proof that he'd regained his appetite, I don't know what is.

No matter how many times we've been here, Bruges continues to wow us. 

We ambled into the direction of Jan van Eyck Square, named after the world-famous master painter.

From the 13th to the 15th century, this was a lively port area where traders assembled from all over Europe. Bruges was the trading hub between the Hanseatic cities of the far North, England and Germany, and the main trading centres in France, Spain and Italy. 

In the Middle Ages a toll was levied here.  Pieter van Luxemburg, a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, used this money to rebuild the Old Tollhouse in 1477 (above, bottom right) and the late Gothic porch is therefore decorated with his polychrome coat of arms. The narrow building jutting out to the left of the porch is the Rijkepijndershuis, the guild house of the dockworkers.

Jan van Eyck square ends rather abruptly at the stone parapet of the Koningsbrug (King’s Bridge) which backs the majestic Spiegelrei canal, looking particularly splendid with the blue sky reflected in its gently rippling waters. 

Wandering through Bruges means revisiting old favourites, like the quirky Papageno sculpture (1980) in front of the Royal City Theatre (1869) with its neo-Renaissance façade.  The sculpture, which is by the Belgian sculptor Jef Claerhout (1937–2022), pictures the Papageno character from Mozart’s opera ‘Die Zauberflöte’ (The Magic Flute). See here for some close-ups.

There are some sculptures at the back of the theatre as well, by Jozef De Looze (1925-2011), one of which you can see in this collage), but we had yet to spot this tiny bronze frog, which sits almost unobtrusively on the railing around one of the flower beds at the front of the theatre. I squealed in delight when I finally found the little fellow.

Midday had come and gone? but instead of finding a place to have lunch, we grabbed some cheese and ham rolls and a drink, which we planned to have at our afternoon destination.

A mere 10-minute drive took us from the 't Zand car park to Loppem Castle in the village of Loppem, which lies to the south-west of Bruges. Those of you who have been here for a while might recall our previous visits, in August 2021 and April 2024. 

We parked our car in the leafy car park which lies at the end of a long and narrow cobbled drive, where we had a makeshift picnic amid a flurry of drifting Autumn leaves. 

Boasting the turrets, nooks and crannies you would expect to find in a neo-Gothic building, Loppem Castle seems to have been lifted straight from the pages of a book of fairy tales.

The castle has been in the van Caloen family since the 18th century, but has seen a number of changes over the generations. The current castle, which replaced an older, original manor house, was completed in 1863 and is considered an excellent example of Flemish neo-Gothic style. 

In 1856, the English architect Edward Welby Pugin (1834-1875) was commissioned by the future inhabitants, Baron Charles van Caloen and his wife, Countess Savina de Gourcy Serainchamps, to draw up plans for the castle. Later on, supervision of the building work was entrusted to the Belgian architect Jean-Baptiste Bethune (1821-1894), who gave a slightly more Flemish character to the building. 

Unlike many castles which evolved over the centuries, Loppem Castle was constructed in a single phase and, even though it was occupied by its owners for generations until 1940, the interior has remained almost completely untouched, with the original neo-Gothic architectural features and furnishings still present and correct, and thus maintaining much of its original design and charm.

The castle's entrance hall or vestibule was definitely built to impress. With its grand staircase and its vaulted ceiling, it is where guests were received and where van Caloen and his guests played billiards.

The stunning encaustic floor tiles were produced by Minton Hollis from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Reaching up 17 metres from the floor, in polychromed wood with six bosses decorated with family coats of arms, the ceiling is a faithful copy of the 14th century vault of the gothic hall in Bruges' city hall.

The grand staircase's banister is composed of a hundred exquisitely crafted panels featuring native plants, animals and hunting scenes.

On the first floor, the two-storey, single-nave family chapel, with Jean-Baptiste Bethune's stained-glass windows depicting the family's patron saints, can be admired.

The chapel is housed in the prominent, corbelled sandstone bay crowned with octagonal spire at the front of the castle.

 

During World War I, the castle played a crucial role in Belgian military history. In October 1918, King Albert I of Belgium and his government used the castle as their temporary headquarters while planning the final offensive against German forces. It was here that key decisions were made about Belgium’s post-war future, adding an extra layer of significance to the castle’s legacy.

The castle and the park became the property of the Jean van Caloen Foundation in 1952 in order to protect the future of this exceptional heritage site. The park was opened to the public in 1974. One year later the castle was made accessible as well. Visitors cannot only enjoy the unique interior but also discover an important painting and sculpture collection.

The floor above the main Entrance Hall is where much of the art collections are on display;

Collecting started at the time of Charles van Caloen and Savina de Gourcy Serainchamps. They bought all kinds of art and antiques with which they decorated their castle: paintings, Chinese porcelain, glassware, hunting paraphernalia, Etc. 

The greatest collector, however, was their grandson Jean van Caloen. The collection he amassed is impressive. In addition to paintings and sculptures, he bought medieval manuscripts, master drawings, prints, ivory, alabaster, pottery and even baking moulds. His son Roland van Caloen was also a passionate collector, especially of Asian and African art.

There's so much to see that repeated visits are required to take it all in, so that it definitely won't be the last time we were here. If only it was to see my favourite object, the Waffle Angel! 

I was most disappointed upon learning that this wood, polychrome and gilt kneeling angel has nothing whatsoever to do with waffles or waffle-making. Made in Italy between 1425 and 1450, he or she was used to store relics.

While Jos was taking a breather and resting his feet on a bench, I strolled through the English-style park with its winding paths, ancient trees and intriguing red painted octagonal pavilion.

In 1866, a neo-Gothic building was constructed in the garden for Joseph, Charles' and Savina's eldest son. Named "Le Petit Musée” (the little museum), its was where the young Joseph could indulge his interest in art and house his collection of objects.

The castle and garden are actually on an island which can be reached by two separate bridges and, with the weather still holding, but the first of the clouds on the horizon, I crossed the one at the west side of the garden. Viewed from the lane at the back of the garden, the castle was looking particularly picturesque framed by the lake and the Autumn clad trees.

At the east side of the castle, another surprise awaited in the form of a German bunker (hidden behind the topiary hedges in the photo on the bottom left), built during the First World War as a shelter for the German officers who occupied the castle from the end of 1917.

The remainder of the day's blue sky had now been completely obscured by a layer of grey and, although rain didn't seem to be imminent, we decided to call it a day and return to the B&B.

As this was our last day, and we'd be going home on Saturday morning this, alas, is the end of my tiny Bruges travelogue. 

It'll be business as usual as from my next post onwards.

Thank you for reading and for your all of your lovely comments!

In praise of Autumn leaves

When the temperatures plummeted to just above freezing point last week, the contrast with the glorious weather we were treated to earlier this month couldn't have been greater. 

Indeed, it almost beggars belief that at some point the mercury effortlessly climbed to 18°C. It seemed that the weather gods, who are usually up to no good when we've got plans, had taken pity on us for once! 

Still, we kept a close watch on the weather forecast, as the weekend before our little trip to Bruges was a bit of a wet one.

Take Saturday the 1st of November for starters! Even if the the day's highs of 14°C weren't too bad for the time of year, it was gloomy and wet, which is typical for All Saints Day in Belgium.

I had a lazy morning, getting dressed late-ish. In fact, I'd just finished putting the finishing touches to my outfit when our neighbours Wes and Michèle came around for final cat-sitting instructions.

With everything closed due to the public holiday, a rummage at the charity shops was out of the question, so I spent my time being a domestic goddess  dusting and vacuuming, after which I lounged on the sofa with my current read.

I was mindlessly flicking through the mind-numbing programmes on offer on the telly that evening - we are old-fashioned and don't do streaming - when I happened upon the first episode of The One That Got Away on one of our national channels. The six-part series, which is an English-language adaptation of the Welsh-language drama Cleddau, features Richard Harrington, who played the starring role in Hinterland, as DS Rick Sheldon. Having holidayed in Pembrokeshire for many years and been to Cleddau woods, I was instantly hooked.

Although Sunday had a sunny start, an encroaching army of clouds pregnant with rain put a stop to     all that from early afternoon onwards.

More household chores were ticked off the never-ending list, but my diary insists that I went on a jolly to blogland as well. 

I was working only one and a half days that week, taking Tuesday afternoon off for packing, tying up some loose ends and publishing a blog post. In the meantime, the rainclouds had departed elsewhere to make way for plenty of sunny spells and temperatures of up to 16°C.

The mercury had climbed to summery highs of 18°C on Wednesday. Our car's thermometer even briefly registered 20°C while we were driving towards our destination. 

The beauty of spending a short break close to home - our B&B in Beernem being just 100 kilometers or a one-hour drive from Dove Cottage - is that one has all the time in the world to get there. And so it was that we set off after lunch to arrive at B&B Het Soetewater shortly after 2 pm. 

This was our ninth visit to this wonderful B&B, our last one dating from April 2024 as we had to cancel our last two bookings due to Jos's health problems. Nevertheless, it felt as if we'd only been there yesterday. We were welcomed with open arms - and coffee! - by our host, Veronique and, after catching up on the latest family and other news, we made our way towards our room in the annex.

We've been staying in this luxury room, equipped with a king-size bed and a bathroom at least twice the size of Dove Cottage's, complete with huge walk-in shower and whirlpool bath, since our visit in August  2021, and haven't looked back since. However lovely the other rooms are, we truly enjoy the peace and quiet offered by this room away from the main B&B, our only neighbours being the horses in the stable at the front and a meadow full of sheep at the back.

The rooms are all named after sweets: Nougat, Caramel, Cuberdon - a typical Belgian delicacy - and ... Chocola(te). The last one was ours and as you can see, I'd brought matching literature!

We still had plenty of time left for an outing, particularly one which is only five minutes up the road.

Provincial domain Bulskampveld is part of a large landscape park with a size of 900 hectares of which 230 hectares of forest. It's even got its own numbered walking map! 

We left our car in the main car park, where it soon became evident that we weren't the only ones taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to go for a walk. There were lots of children too, as it was Wednesday and schools were out for the afternoon. 

We did our best to avoid the hubbub as much as possible by keeping away from the main paths.

The gateway to the domain and nature reserve is the visitor centre located in a neo-Gothic style castle dating from 1887. The castle park is laid out in the inevitable English landscape style, offering glimpses of the castle across the lake.

Due to the lateness of the hour - it was well past 3 pm by now - we were only here for a short stroll and a taste of those Autumnal delights.  There were plenty of opportunities to indulge in my favourite pastime of leaf kicking! 

There are several wooden adventure platforms and play huts to entertain and educate youngsters like ourselves. Apart from anything else, they are perfect for hanging up one's coat when taking outfit photos!

I was wearing my rust coloured vintage St. Michael skirt again, this time combined with a charity shopped blouse by the Belgian Who's That Girl label and one of my King Louie cardigans. The latter, as well as my belt, necklace, ring and brooch - which somewhat disappears into the blouse's pattern here - were charity shop finds too.

Established in 1980 on the site of the castle's former kitchen garden is a herb garden which boasts 400 or so species of medicinal and kitchen herbs. In spite of being well past its sell-by date at this time of year, things were still looking relatively green and lush, although obviously nothing compared to the wild exuberance of the garden basking in the heat of an August afternoon on our visit back in 2021.

See here, here and here.

And then there was a shed full of ghosts, which was very apt indeed just a couple of days after Hallowe'en :-)

By then the sun was playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. At one point it looked as if  rain was imminent but thankfully nothing came of it. It just made the gloaming descend on us a bit earlier than expected. 

As we were walking back to the car park, we were distracted by the sight of a folly in the woods. 

Erected in 1920, this is a Chapel of Thanksgiving to Our Lady in recognition for the protection of the inhabitants of the village in general and the Lippens family - then owners of the castle - in particular during the First World War.

Last time we were here, a tall plaster statue of Mary perched on a pedestal could be glimpsed through its window. The one you can see here isn't the real thing but a picture as the chapel is currently being restored.

Back at the B&B, we made ourselves comfortable and we might even have caught forty winks. That is, until our faintly rumbling stomachs reminded us of the fact that one of Veronique's famous tapas boards was waiting for us in the fridge.

So we left the cozy confines of our room and made our way towards the main B&B. 

That's the kitchen behind the window to the left of the photo on the top left, while straight ahead is the breakfast room.

I just love Veronique's attention to detail! Instead of disposable paper napkins, we got these gorgeous embroidered linen ones.

There was more than enough for our second night as well, we just bought some rolls on our way back from Bruges the next day.

Speaking of Bruges, as I guess some of you might be wondering, it's only a stone's throw and a 20-minute drive on secondary roads from here.

We ended our first day with a long soak in the whirlpool bath, after which we soon drifted off to the Land of Nod.

Do stay tuned for the second installment of my travelogue in which I'm finally taking you to the fairy-tale city of Bruges!