Oostende (the Flemish spelling) is a resort and fishing town on the Belgium Coast overlooking the English Channel in the North Sea. It has been pummeled through history with wars and flooding but remains a popular tourist spot.
World War 2 history being our draw-point, we visited the town to see the German bunkers, observation, and gun sites from both WW1 and WW2 on the Oostende cliffs, overlooking the North Sea and the Channel across to the white cliffs of Dover. The town was a major German submarine base in WW1 and a German coastal fortress in WW2 until liberated by the Canadians in 1944.
German Bunkers looking over the North Sea towards England from the Belgium coast.
Oostende, we found was Interesting for history enthusiasts. The beach, on the other hand, was much more popular with the dogs! Got to love the liberal European beach policies regarding dogs. And restaurants, hotels and other attractions for that matter.
Swimming in the English Channel off the beach at Oostende, Belgium.
The Wadden Islands (or Frisian Islands) are a group of five barrier islands that shield the mudflat region of the Wadden Sea from the North Sea.
The biggest is Texel. We camped on the sand and enjoyed the peace and solitude of miles of sand and scenery. We took the ferry across from the mainland – dogs and all. The islands and the water dynamic between the North Sea and Wadden Sea are very interesting. It is worth spending a few days island-hopping around the islands and mainland. Biking and sailing self-guided tours are very popular ways of seeing everything to be seen.
A ferry goes out to the Islands.
Texel is, funnily enough, famous in military history as the only place where a Navy was defeated on horseback. Occupying Holland in 1795, the French Continental Army learned that the mightly Dutch Navy was frozen into the ice around Texel. Commandant Louis Lahure and 128 men rode up to it and demanded surrender. No shots were fired.
Texel has some interesting military history.
During WW2 the sea north of Texel was also the scene of what is known as the Texel Disaster – the sinking of two British warships and severe damage to a third by German mines.
The cheerful town of La Roche is found on the banks of the River Ourthe in the Ardennes region of southeast Belgium. The Ardennes region extends into Luxembourg, Germany, and France. It is a region rich in flora and fauna and is generally regarded as the most enchanting area in Belgium.
It is dense with magnificent ancient forests and also the site of three major battles – the Battle of the Ardennes in World War 1, and the Battle of France, and the Battle of the Bulge in World War 2.
La Roche, nestled below Feudal Castle ruins in the Ardenne area of Belgium.
We stayed in a hotel in the village one New Years’ Eve. We enjoyed a delicious meal with Spike at our feet and watched some fireworks over the River Ourthe. Spike, not much of a fan, but a good sport for a while until we headed back to our hotel room in the early hours. It was a most tiresome start to the year in that Spike must have eaten a morsel of something that made him sick as the proverbial dog. We (read I) spent most of the rest of the night pacing up and down the sidewalk outside the hotel as Spike was always very good about letting us know he needed to go outside, regardless of how horribly inconvenient.
Exploring the ruins of the Feudal Castle on the rocky escarpment above the town of La Roche.
The town of La Roche is often referred to as the Jewel of the Ardennes. On the hill overlooking the town, the Romans built a fort. As Roman influence waned the area was invaded by the Franks, a Germanic people. Where the Roman fort once stood a Castle was built in the 9th century. By the 1700s the castle was abandoned and neglected and these are the ruins that now dominate the town.
Nothing much of the town is left from before World War 2 during which it was bombed completely.
A British World War 2 cemetery in Hotton.
During this trip, we also explored surrounding areas including the British World War 2 cemetery at Hotton and the Basilica at St. Hubert, the foundations of which date back to 817. The Basilica of St. Hubert is a popular pilgrimage destination. St. Hubert is known as the patron saint of hunters and woodsmen, as well as mathematicians and metallurgists. Yet on St. Hubert’s Day (November 3rd), large numbers of dogs are brought here to be blessed!
On November 3 each year large amounts of dogs travel to the Basilica of St. Hubert to be blessed.
Dog owners travel from near and far to make the trip for the St. Hubert blessing each year, and it’s not only dogs – falcons and horses get the blessing too apparently.
Blessing of the dogs on St.Hubert’s day in Belgium.
We spent a few days exploring this vastly beautiful and historic area from our campsite base in the little town of Verchin in North-west France. Learn more about this campsite here.
Camping in Verchin, France
Dunkerque (or the English spelling Dunkirk) and Calais were particularly important beaches in World War 2.
Dunkirk, quaint and quiet.
Dunkirk was the site of Operation Dynamo in which 338 000 British and French soldiers were evacuated in early June 1940 as the Germans bore down on Flanders.
Swimming in the sea off Dunkirk, site of Operation Dynamo.
Ships of all sizes made the trip across the channel time and time again braving Luftwaffe strikes in what is known as the Miracle of Dunkirk.
Dunkirk WW1 and WW2 memorial.
Both towns have various memorials commemorating the dead of WW1 and WW2, indeed almost all French towns do.
Originally founded by Saint Eloi in the 7th century the Church of St. Eloi burned down in the 1500s and this edifice was built in the 18th century in a Neo-Gothic style. Dunkirk’s most famous son, Jean Bart, is buried here. He was a great soldier and sailor in the 1600s and is credited with saving his country from starvation by capturing Russian ships laden with wheat.
St. Eloi’s Church, Dunkirk
The French towns in this rural area are largely agriculturally orientated and are almost all Medieval in appearance. Calais has a watchtower built in the 13th century – the only remaining aspect of medieval Calais.
13th century watchtower in Calais.
South-east of Calais, the town of Boulogne (used by the Roman Emperor Claudius as his base for Roman invasions of England) has a 53-meter high monument to Napoleon called the Colonne de la Grande Armee. The other popular landmark of this town is the Basilica Notre Dam de Boulogne.
Basillica Notre Dam de Boulogne
St. Omer lies inland south of Dunkirk and Calais and dates from about the 7th century.
Cathedral at St. Omer.
The Cathedral was built between the 13-14th centuries.
Ruins of the St. Bertin Abbey, St. Omer.
The hauntingly beautiful ruins of the Benedictine St. Bertin Abbey, built in the 14th century, are also a great tourist attraction in this town.
Looking out over the Channel at Cap Gris Nez.
Between Calais and Boulogne is Cap Gris Nez with its 70-meter high lighthouse (visible from 30 miles away) and radar and German bunkers.
Radar outpost at Cap Gris Nez.
The south coast of England is visible on clear days from here and has been a watch-point for centuries of war-fare across the channel.
German bunkers were built into the cliffs.
Thoughts and Things
The story of Dunkirk has been told in many ways, in many mediums, for many years. Operation Dynamo is regarded as one of the greatest escapes of all time.
We had never experienced a place that got so cold the sea edges froze, but that’s the North Sea for you!
The beach closest to our base in Hillegom, the Netherlands was called Langevelderslag : long, wide, windswept, frigid in the winter, and the first time we ever saw frozen sea – the dogs loved it!
Langevelderslag was one of our local beaches in the Netherlands.
Driving further towards the southwest of the Netherlands is Hoek van Holland (picture). This was a strategic hold for Germany in WW2 because of the harbor. It is in the southwestern corner of the country at the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg (ship canal) into the North Sea. There is a wide, sandy beach on the other side of the river, part of which is designated for ‘naturalists’ – but obviously deserted this time of the year!
