I always love getting home, as much as I love going away. After coming back from the Denmark trip, I was at home for two weeks. A friend of mine, camping in the beautiful province of Zeeland (in the Netherlands) asked me where I was, if I did not feel like driving to Zeeland, where they were camping very near the sea. It did not take me long to decide to just do that, so I put my bike on the ‘bike carrier’ on the van and off I went. Their campsite was at Den Osse, which is very near Brouwershaven, a village with a beautiful old center, and a port of course. Boating and sailing are very popular activities in the Netherlands so anywhere near the sea you will find small (or bigger) ports. I made a few trips on my bike during daytime, went to see my friends at the end of each day and on my last day there they took me out for dinner to a lovely Italian restaurant with great views at the sea, all around.
From there I drove to Burgh-Haamstede. Other friends of mine had told me it was a nice village, surrounded by nature, and that they thought that I would like it there. And I certainly did! I camped at a small campsite (I prefer the smaller ones), almost in the center of the village. From there I made long trips on the bike, in the August sun (and a few drops of rain sometimes), and wind, along the sea, the dunes, crossing nice villages. One of my trips led me over the impressive Oosterschelde storm surge barrier, which keeps the sea out of the Netherlands, or opens its massive barrier doors when it is necessary to regulate water flows. I had dinner at a seaside restaurant (on the beach really), and lunch at another one, the next day, and felt truly blessed to be able to enjoy life so much.
I got home on 26 August, and since I felt like spending a few days in France, I left again on 1 September, and drove to Wissant, south of Calais, another seaside village.
I have noted several times on my longer trips, such as this one, how the roads are filled, even blocked sometimes, with trucks, and …….caravans and campervans. I was not the only one touring! Anyway, I found myself a good municipal camp site, not far from the village center and very near the sea. From inside the campsite you could walk to the sea directly. A very friendly lady at the Tourist Office showed me the many possibilities for bike rides. The weather was so pleasant for biking through hills and villages, and along the sea. I lost my way a couple of times, as I usually do, but having an e-bike now, a few extra kilometers do not hurt so much anymore, hahaha!! On one of my last days there we had to leave the campsite from 06.45 to 13.00 because the bomb disposal services were going to clear a bomb on the beach behind the campsite. There are still some bombs to be found there from the last World War. So I found myself on my bike at 06.30, seeing the sun, and the world, waking up slowly, a magical feeling. When I approached the small town of Wimereux, I noticed that some young men had been sleeping in the dunes and were on their way to ………. somewhere. I also saw quite a few police cars near and on the beaches. I understood only later that these young men and women (refugees) tried to cross the sea at night, to get to the UK. It filled me with sadness to see this, the life of refugees is so damned difficult. After Wimereux I continued to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where I visited the Nausicaa Aquarium, the biggest in Europe, fascinating!!! Learning a bit about biodiversity in the oceans, and seeing the inhabitants of the oceans, in all their forms, colors, movements, truly beautiful.
I drove home on 8 September and left again on 18 September. That was actually a very short trip, but a very special one. A few months ago I had booked a ticket for a performance of the Netherlands Dance Theater 2 (the young generation of dancers), in the Old Church in Veere, in the province of Zeeland. It is an extremely good dance company and I thought a performance in the old church would be very nice, and I could take the van to visit and then sleep in Veere at night. Veere is one of the most beautiful cities in Zeeland. During the previous trip to Zeeland, a lady I know from my primary school years (ehhh, yes, quite a while ago), had seen on Facebook that I was very near Veere, where she lived, and suggested that I would come and see her. I then wrote to her that I was coming to Veere later and that I would visit her then. And this is what I did. In the afternoon I went to her place and had a glass of wine with her, Elly, and her husband. It had been like 55 years ago that we had seen each other. She and her husband were so very friendly, so sweet and caring, it was a pleasure to visit them. She took me out for dinner, and a glass of Cava, for the occasion! I then went to see the performance which was stunningly beautiful. They danced ‘The most fascinating problem in the world’ (by Tom Weinberger) and ‘The big crying’ (Marco Goecke). The next day I was outside on my bike. Monday morning, before driving home, I went to Elly for a coffee, and to say goodbye.
My campervan has now started its winter sleep. I, on the contrary, hope to be very active this winter, and will, amongst other things, make a plan for a long trip through France to the north of Spain, the Basque side, for the next summer.
