Ashleigh's blog

26/10/2019

A quick one-hour bus ride from Lille landed us in Ghent early Saturday morning. We were surprised to be the only two hopping off the bus at this stop, the others presumably carrying on to the final destination of Dusseldorf.

Having only 7 hours before our return bus, we made our way immediately to Gravensteen – The Castle of the Counts. This imposing stone building replaced the former wooden one in 1180 as a symbol of the Counts’ power in this turbulent time. Standing at the top and gazing out at the city of Ghent certainly gives a sense of the wealth and power that they were after.

It has been beautifully restored and provides all you could want from a castle – torture instruments in the dungeon included. However I found it difficult to link the displays of medieval artifacts and weapons with the historic tales being described by the audio guide. Perhaps it just felt too far removed from the buzzing touristic city surrounding it now.

In need of some food to recharged, we found lunch in a not so Belgium burger place (Manhatten’s Burgers), but hey the fries were Belgium and so was the beer! It also provided a great spot to take in the picturesque old buildings along the riverside. As we learnt later on however, these pretty little buildings house some unexpected secrets. Unlike the fully preserved historic center of Bruges, Ghent has more lenient building restrictions. This means that while the buildings on the outside look as they did hundreds of years ago, on the inside it’s a different story.

For example, a very humble looking orange brick facade, formerly the local brothel (signified by two golden swans swimming away from each other), is now a Marriot hotel. Stepping into the lobby from the street, I imagine it’s the same sensation as walking into the Tardis. The inside is much much bigger than it appears from the outside, with a glass domed roof enclosing the ultra modern lobby and linking it to the neighbouring buildings which must house the guest rooms.

After lunch we joined a free walking tour, which took us past the main sites including Saint Micheals’ Bridge, and the three towers of the city (Saint Nicholas’ Church, the Belfry and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral). We also made our way back to the square outside Gravensteen Castle, which we learned was a sight of many beheadings in medieval times. As a means to lighten the dark history here (literally), the city council recently installed three lanterns that light up for a minute every time a baby is born in the city. We were lucky enough to actually witness them light up as we were standing outside. It’s little details like this that really make a difference for me when visiting a new place, to go beyond snapping the famous sites. It’s these things I’ll take with me after I’ve left.

If it hadn’t been for our tour guide pointing it out though, we would have walked straight past the lanterns without a second thought. It’s for this reason that I love doing guided tours, and thanks to the free walking tour concept, I’ve been able to profit from this experience in most of the places I’ve visited around Europe.

After the walking tour, we indulged one of our long-running dreams/jokes of visiting a cat cafe. The cat cafe in Ghent is called DreamCATchers (https://wearedreamcatchers.be/en), providing shelter for rescued cats until they find their forever homes. So while we had dreamed of being surrounded by cuddly cats, we had to accept the fact that most of the cats were very shy and wouldn’t let us pat them.

With a bit of patience a few cats gradually came out to play, and we got to meet an adorable cat named Moustache (any guesses why??). It was verrrry hard to leave without her.

Normally we would have had to head back to the bus depot, however our bus was delayed for over two hours. This was not a huge surprise to us, knowing the reliability of FlixBus and French public transport in general. For perhaps the first time though, the news of the delay was happily received, as it meant more time in charming Ghent.

We made the most of our extra time by indulging in expensive Belgium waffles, and sitting on the riverbank observing the passing ferries and ducks. We also stumbled across an Indian festival which provided great entertainment and a much appreciated curry to sustain us until we finally arrived back in Lille that night.

All in all, we passed a very enjoyable 9 hours in Ghent; a small city full of surprises and definitely worth returning to for longer!

20/04/2019

Nestled in the narrow valley of the Gellone river, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert has maintained its medieval character, making it the perfect place to step back in time and experience a little piece of history and beauty. For a mere one-euro bus fare, it was easily accessible for me from Montpellier, 45 km to the east. I’d already heard a lot of reasons to visit Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, which has been voted one of the most beautiful villages in France. But with only one day to take in the sights, here’s my top 3 things to do and see:

L’Abbaye de Gellone

Dating back to 804, this abbey is a UNESCO world heritage site, and houses the relics of Saint Guilhem, for whom the town is named. During the medieval ages it also housed a relic of a piece of the true cross, making it an important pilgrimage site. The abbey is the heart of the village, which soon developed around it and remains well preserved to this day.

The church and cloister provide a valuable respite from the heat on summer days, while the charming streets that surround it house local beer, wine and many other goodies.

2. Le Pont du Diable

Another UNESCO world heritage site, Le Pont du Diable, or the Devil’s Bridge, marks the start of the famous Hérault Gorges. It was constructed between 1028 and 1031, by the monks from the two nearby abbeys, in spite of a number of entanglements with the devil. As the legend goes…

The monks worked tirelessly to finish the bridge, but every morning they found their building work demolished. Demoralised and despairing, they prayed to their patron saint, Saint Guilhem. And so one night, he hid himself close to the bridge, and looking out he saw the Devil arrive and demolish the building work. Saint Guilhem came out of his hiding place and said to the Devil:

“Satan, what on earth are you doing? Why do you keep destroying my brothers’ bridge?”

“I haven’t the slightest interest in anything the mongrels who serve you do.”

“Listen, why don’t we settle this matter in a sensible way?”

“Fine. Give me three days and I’ll build the strongest bridge you can imagine. In exchange, I’ll take the soul of the first of the mongrels who serve you to cross the bridge.”

“It’s a deal”, Guilhem calmly replied. “Let’s meet back in three days.”

Three days and three nights later, Guilhem, the Devil, the monks from the two abbeys and the local villagers gathered close to the bridge. Proud of his achievement, the Devil demonstrated how strong it was, not even he could destroy it. Saint Guilhem, who had brought his dog with him, took a bone from his pocket and threw it across the bridge. Without further ado, the dog ran barking across the bridge.

So Guilhem said to the Devil, ” So Satan, you see that I always honour my commitments. Three days ago, you demanded the soul of one of the mongrels who serve me. So, there you are, he is the most loyal of them all.”

“You have tricked me, Guilhem!” cried the Devil.

The Devil became enraged, he tried unsuccessfully to demolish the bridge and finally threw himself into the river Herault, hollowing out a black chasm beneath the bridge.

While there was no Devil to be seen peering into the deep waters below, the tourists and locals alike must be quite grateful for the refreshing swimming hole on warmer days!

3. Cuircuit des Fenestrettes

For nature lovers, the Herault Valley is home to a number of hiking trails. The two starting in Saint-Guilhem are the the Circuit des Fenestrettes and Circuit Notre-Dame. I did the former today, but already look forward to returning to do the latter.

Having recently watched the film The Way, it was a delight to spot the symbolic scallop shell and discover that the village is located on the Chemin de St-Jacques (Way of St. James) pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella. So I can officially say that I did my first 2 km of the ‘camino’ today! There’s something quite special about walking a path that has been traveled for over a thousand years…

The full Circuit des Fenestrettes is 11 km with a fairly steep climb to the top. The path was pretty rugged too, and I was grateful I’d opted for sturdy hiking books instead of sneakers. One traverse across a scree slope had me extra cautious with my footing, however glancing up I saw rock climbers on the cliff faces hundreds of meters above me.

The views along the way, and at the top, certainly did not disappoint. It was such a breathe of fresh air, literally, to get out of the city and be in nature, something I haven’t done enough of in my time in France.

There’s probably another 10 things that could be added to the list, including a visit to the caves, canoeing down the river and wine tasting, but that will have to wait until I return. Until next time, Saint-Guilhem!