22/4/2008

The Mouthpiece

Journeyman in Belgium

Medieval towers on the River Leie, and the are the oldest remaining parts of the cities fortifications

April 2008

Coincidentally this trip was to one my most frequent destinations, Kortrijk in Belgium

I always use Eurotunnel for this six hour trip (including the one hour time difference).

The journey over on Monday ran into problems at the Eurotunnel terminal where I was booked on the 14.50 train with a fully flexible ticket. Having arrived around 14.00, I was informed that there were three hour delays for standard ticket travellers and speaking to one traveller he had been waiting since 8am with his family.

The delays were caused by multiple problems in the system all happening on the same day. Unexpectedly I was told that my 14.50 train was going to run and I should get away on time.

I experienced more of these problems when on the loading ramp to the train, car drivers were informed the train had developed a problem. We were requested to move from platform 4 to platform 2 for another train which all the drivers did only to have another hold up.

One tower with the Broel hotel (white building) on the left

In the mean time later cars were now loaded onto the train at platform 4 after the problem was fixed, consequently the 14.50 train on platform 4 left around 15.30 whilst I was still sitting on the train at platform 2.

Kortrijk is an 80 miles journey from the Calais Euroterminal, and can be done in 90 minutes. The route is either via Lille using the main motorways or via Ypres (Ieper in Flemish). This second route is more enjoyable, and reasonably easy, if you want to pass through some typical Belgian villages.

Like most of trips for work I don’t have time for site seeing. Kortrijk has a nice square, Grote Markt, in the town centre and was the location for my hotel, Grand Hotel Damier. There has been a hotel on the site of the Grand Hotel Damier since 1394. The hotel seems to support Belgian artists with a number of sculptures and paintings dotting the reception and other ground floor rooms.

Bell tower in the square, opposite the Grand Damier which is under the arch entrance on the right of the picture. The bell tower chimes every 15 minutes and strikes the hour

There are a number of hotels in the centre and I have stayed at three of them (Grand Hotel Damier, Park Hotel, Broel Hotel). Many of the hotels in Kortrijk were booked up but may have been related to a number of cycle races taking place within the region. There was one Belgium team staying in the Grand Hotel Damier.

The Grote Markt has many restaurants around its sides, but you have to be careful as many seem to close on certain days and during the winter. Tuesday was a busy night in the square, but Wednesday saw a number of establishments closed.

I usually end up in the Irish bar near the river on a night, especially as they have the Champions League games from one of the local channels.

On my return journey via Lille I was travelling down the E42/A25 towards Dunkirk. I was attracted by a car coming in the opposite direction furiously flashing his lights. I wasn’t sure what the significance was but had a suspicion that there may be a speed camera ahead.

The speed on this stretch of road is 110Km/hr or around 68MPH. About a kilometer later I was surprised by a camera flash about 200 meters ahead of me catching (hopefully) the vehicle 100m in front of me.

Irish Pub in Kapucijnenstraat

The camera sat about one meter off the ground facing on-coming traffic and was a nondescript grey colour which tended to blend in with the background. As I passed the camera there was a blue saloon car parked on a country lane adjacent to the main highway. I’m guessing that the camera has a connection to some device being managed by the occupant in the car.

I should be back to Kortrijk in maybe two weeks with possibly a trip to Ostend shortly after.

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First printed in: Surrey Advertiser Online