A cold wind blowing all the while, cloudy in the morning but a nice bit of sunshine for most of the afternoon as we explore part of Belgium’s small coastline. We travel a short distance along the coast to the far end of De Panne to capture the sculpture and beach of Strand Canadezenplien….
Before moving a little further east to Plage Sint Idesbald and Koksijde Beach….
At the far end of Strand Westende we found an amazing park up for the night right beside the beach (though we did shuffle down a bit forfeiting an amazing view for the shelter of the dunes)….
After a quick cup of tea we ventured out for a lovely walk along the beach, enjoying the sculptures on Strand Westende….
Before heading eastwards along Hondon Strand to Middelkerke and it’s rather impressive looking Casino at the far end….
A walkway around the Casino affording great views along the fine beach of Middelkerke and off into the distance Ostend…
After having our tea we popped out to catch the setting sun before calling it a day….
Thoughts of the day:
These sculptures, though random do make a great focal point along this otherwise featureless long stretch of sand – well done Belgium – though a little tag telling you about them wouldn’t go amiss!
Unlike France, so far most of the ample parking, though cheap, is paid, but that might be because we are hugging the coast.
Quite a wild and wet night and into the morning, so instead of venturing out we decided to stay put here another night and get a few things sorted out i.e internet. Various jobs done this morning and though still windy the rain has passed through so we wandered down to the beach for a stroll in the afternoon…
Heading westwards (into the wind) we walked along the promenade of Bray-Dunes to the far end of the village and then down onto the beach looking back along the village front as the sun was trying very hard to shine….
Beyond the village and another section of Dune Nature reserve we reached the small village of Zuydcoote and it’s stretch of sandy beach and at this point we conceded defeat to the wind and enjoyed a much faster pace back with wind on our tails….
Well today is the day and we are very excited and yes a little apprehensive as we make an early getaway from Canterbury Camping and Caravan Club site at 7.30am to drive the short distance to LeShuttle. It feels a little overwhelming when you arrive at LeShuttle as it seems there are so many lanes and potential ways to get it wrong but in fact it is all quite straightforward and there really is only one way to go!
After checking in at a machine which has already identified who you are by your numberplate and confirming a couple of details, you follow the road around to pet check in which means parking up (for me in the large vehicle section) and wandering in through the main terminal with Duty Free and plenty of eateries – the process was very quick and straightforward and Tilly got a little bag of treats for her bother and then back to van to wait to be called.
Visible from the van is a large check in board which indicates the waiting time for your call, based on the number that you have been allocated. Within 20 minutes we were off on our merry way to the train via British and then French passport control (all done from the van)….
What an amazingly easy way to travel, so much less stressful for Tilly and so fast, just half an hour and we are driving out of the train and onto the road system in France – no further check points just voila and you are there! Driving more or less straight onto a dual carriageway almost means that you don’t have to think about driving on the right as it is obvious.
Our journey from the terminal is quite short and by midday (11am UK time having got on LeShuttle for the 9.45 crossing!) we are arriving at our first stop for the night at the Camping Car Park Bray-Dunes….
After a rewarding cup of tea and to be a fair a little mental clap on the back for yet another new experience ticked off we got wrapped up (there is a fair chilly wind blowing) and walked the few hundred metres to the beach….
On consulting the map, I realised that we are just a short hop from the Belgium border so we decided to walk eastwards to Belgium, well why on earth not? The beach is a lovely long stretch of sand, literally as far as the eye can see – with Dunkirk just visible to the west and possible (time will tell) the whole of Belgium’s short coastline, visible to the east and Tilly as happy as I am to be back on our travels again….
The border istelf took some finding with the only marker I could find being this rather unassuming block…
So here you are France to the west and Belgium to the east….
We continued our walk into Belgium along the beach De Panne to get a closer look at Westerpunt a 6m high architectural structure ‘offering a symbolic connection between the sea, dunes and residents’ and pretty panoramic views as you can walk over the top, towards France and De Panne Beach in Belgium….
We about turned here and battled our way back against the seemingly strengthening westerly breeze – I think you could say a very successful and enjoyable first day.
A grey and breezy day as we take a run down into Lyme Regis. A buzzy and pretty little coastal town with a nice long promenade and a fair bit of sand on the main beach at low tides….
We easily found parking (paid) just shy of the seafront and took a breezy walk first down onto The Spittles to the east of town where numerous fossil hunters were scouring the shores….
Under the watchful eye of Lyme Regis’s most famous fossilier – Mary Anning….
Heading back towards the town for followed the shore along Church Cliff Beach and Front Beach…
To the end of the promenade and Monmouth Beach, before heading back along Front Beach to the van and home…
After a lovely few months back in Cornwall, spending time with friends and family and what has been a long, wet and stormy winter, we are glad to be back in our ‘Happy Place’ and back on the road again. We left home on Monday 2nd and are slowly making our way across to Folkstone to catch Le Shuttle on Thursday 12th. In between preparing and settling back into the van and completing various admin tasks we are hoping to bob in and out of the coast and notch up a few more beaches before heading to Europe.
Todays drive took us over Dartmoor as we made our way from Tavistock to Charmouth, pulling over in the hazy sunshine to take a walk across a section of the moor – we were not alone….
Albeit somewhat shrouded in mist the views were still pretty spectacular – in the distance Bullseye Stone…
Heading 5 minutes further onto the moors and we were suddenly completely immersed in the low mists with visibility shrinking to 50m or less….
Needless to say it was a slowish journey to Charmouth and even though the mist had opened up once we left the moors, we decided against popping down into Exmouth and will save that delight for another day.
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