I took the train over the flat countryside, through the well-known cities of Ghent and Bruges to the coastal city of Oostende, a trip of about 1 1/2 hours. Oostende is a bustling port and tourist vacation spot so there's lots of activity and highrise apartment buildings.
From one end of the Belgian coastline to the other (a distance of about 68 km from the French border to the Dutch border), you can ride the "Coast Tram" or the "Kusttram" for 5 euros a day. It's the longest tram line in the world and it stops at all the little villages along the way, like ..... De Haan.
De Haan is the most beautiful village on the coast, utterly charming. Of course it has a seaside promenade but behind it you discover a delightful maze of green, meandering avenues and a Belle Epoque area, well over a century old, an Anglo-Norman residential area.
The weather was grey and chilly, more like winter than spring, so I thought it would be fun for you to see what I looked like as I walked the beach, enjoying the sound of the waves and the gulls. (I told the Flemish lady who took my picture that my friends in Canada would never believe that I was walking on the beach in a winter coat!!)
And the sea...the endless sea with its never-ending waves. And then the beach in all its simplicty, with no frills and no people.
The round park in the centre of the beautiful downtown residential area was coming to life!
And there was even a coastal forest I could meander through.
My hotel was quaint, my bed comfortable, the seafood delicious and the peace ...exquisite. I came home relaxed and ready to pick up my responsibilities again.
Thank-you, little rooster!
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