We are on day 19 of our adventure and the weather has really turned “soft”. (Yes I am a few days behind of blog updates) We endured major winds and torrential downpours while driving yesterday, huge winds, downed trees and power lines, traffic jams on the highway, hail, we got the full experience and today the weather radar is looking extremely wet in all areas within a 1–2-hour drive of our Liege lodging. We are holed up in our cozy apartment on the 21st floor, hoping for a beak. My plans for a bike ride today are fading fast but it’s only 9:30 in the morning, things might change for the better. Good day to do some blogging.
Back to day 12, another chance drawing of what town to visit and the choice is Ypres. Close enough to Lille, 32 kilometers, so an easy drive to get into a more manageable city/town and hope it is as scenic as all the other smaller towns we have seen so far. 45 minutes after leaving Lille, we are entering a walled city, or what is left of the wall, as we cross a pond and then drive through an arch in the wall. This could be good.
As we got close to the town, we have come across numerous signs for battlefield memorials, they are scattered around the area and commemorate lives lost in WW 1. Yes, a long time ago, 1914-1918. For some unknown reason I feel connected to these places and need to stop and try to capture the emotions in these fields on a tiny phone camera. Huge losses and for what?
The town itself is wonderful, quaint, welcoming, a large town square as most of these towns have. The square is surrounded by magnificent buildings, churches, museums, and a wide variety of structures that just make you feel relaxed and comfortable.
My plan was to do a bit of a ride today and Vera explore the town central. First challenge, where to park and how to make sure we pay for parking so as not to get a ticket and a fine. After a few attempts, with the help of a local lady, we get an on-street spot settled and paid for but the weather is just nasty, cold, windy, occasional rain, just not even close to an inviting ride day. Decision made, bike stays in the car, and we do a walking tour of the town. There is a “Fields of Flanders” museum, huge, beautiful building, that again, commemorates the battles won and lost in and around Belgium, WW 1. We don’t do a tour, just too sad going through all that tragedy.
Back in the car and some sight-seeing around the town and off to a town named Kemmel, hopefully close to a well know cycling cobbled climb called the Kemmelberg, of course. We find lots more cemeteries and some magnificent very old and some somewhat old residences, some scenic park like areas and then we find the tiny town of Kemmel.
We drive all around Kemmel, trying google maps and anything I can to try and locate the “berg” or climb with no success. The best I can do is find what looks like the area of the Kemmelberg and a sign that says Kemmelberg but no actual cobbled climb. That’s a bit disappointing.
The day was moving on and so it was time for us to do the same, goodbye to a very wonderful day in and around Ypres. We are already wondering if we should come back here again in two days. Back in the car and away to Lille. Tonight is prep time for tomorrow’s adventure to a town named Overisje and a bike race named Brabantes Pijl.