How about a real change of scenery? Try a beer and beef carbonnade (delicious local stew) on a self-guided walk in flemish country
Among the Flanders hills and the fields of hops, you’ll walk a lot, talk a lot, and above all delight in our great regional foods and beverages. The focus isn’t on sporting performance, but on conviviality, fine living and strengthening friendships. All the good stuff!
Taste the local beers
Fruity, finely bitter or floral. Aromas of hazelnut, toasted bread or dark chocolate... these local beers are works of art! Welcome to the roots of beer: plunge into the atmosphere of the estaminets (small cafés/shops also serving alcohol and food), micro-breweries and hop farms which nestle between the barley fields. Daniel Thiriez, brewer in Esquelbecq, (brasseriethiriez.com), is a happy man. “Responsible consumers will be delighted by our quality, authenticity, local ties and traceability.” You’ll spot some of these hop fields at the crossroads of the Méteren and Mont des Cats routes in particular. But first let’s have a look at the abbey. In the shop (abbaye-montdescats.fr) you’ll be spoilt for choice among the plethora of cheeses produced by the Trappist monks – with beer, Flamay or dessert varieties available.
After this welcome refreshment, you can then set off across the Flanders Hills. To orient yourself, follow the network of walking routes, which are indicated via red signs along the way. It’s impossible to get lost! Starting from the Mont des Cats, the network links Mont de Boeschèpe and Mont Kokereel a dozen or so kilometres away (about a 3-hour walk). Hiking trails lead off from tarmac roads. Walk at your own pace. After a long hour’s walk, what do you say to a stop off at La Maison commune de Boeschèpe [Boeschèpe Communal House] opposite the church, to quench your thirst or have a bite to eat? It’s a Café Rando© [Hiking Café] and is specifically designed to recharge walkers’ batteries.
A few more meters further and you’re greeted by the Ondankmeulen, the “mill of ingratitude” whose great sails arch over the sky of Flanders. And now we’ve already arrived at Godewaersvelde, the heritage and gourmet village. We push open the door of Calibou & Co, another Café Rando© which offers soups, filled sandwiches and an authentic bookstore in the middle of a tearoom.
In the centre of the village, you’ll find the King of the Potje Vleesch (
www.auroidupotjevleesch.fr), a former butcher’s shop which has become an estaminet. You can savour a potje (Potjevleesch, a dish featuring a kind of terrine/potted meat) with four meats, a traditional dish par excellence, before slipping local products and local beers into your rucksack. Then back to the Mont des Cats, unless you prefer to push on to Terdeghem (10 km away). The beauty of its doll-like houses with colourful shutters and its flower-filled gardens are well worth the effort. Then why not Cassel
(another 5 km), voted France’s Favourite Village in 2018? This is a capital of the art de vivre, with names of streets and houses in Vlaamse (Flemish), the Flemish Récollets Garden (see below), the museum of Flemish art from the
15th century to the present day, Flemish flags flying in the wind, and the iconic Estaminet Flamand© Kasteelhof with a great view of the plain below. On Mont Cassel, the exoticism can also be savoured...
Inspired by the Flemish Renaissance : The Mont des Récollets garden
This garden is neither English nor French. The Mont des Récollets garden is Flemish-inspired, and really is one of a kind. To design it, its owner (the landscape architect Emmanuel de Quillacq) was inspired by Flemish Renaissance painting, in both reality and imagination. Brueghel is of course featured, as are the albums of Croÿ, the beguinages [an architectural complex created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world] and their thousands of bulbs, and the Flemish “bocage” hedgerow landscape, brimming with hawthorn and blackthorn trees.
Landscapes and corridors of lush greenery. A pond and a Flemish farm. Light and dark. Topiaries pruned into spheres or lozenges. The poet-gardener has painted a picture exuding serenity, poetry and dreams. A hectare and a half dotted
with surprises, joyfully playing with height and colour, shrubs and flowers. A secret garden where you can gaze in wonder, peacefully rest, be inspired or contemplate the meandering Flanders plain on the horizon.
1936 rue de Steenvoorde,
Cassel.
Useful info
Tourist Office Destination
Cœur de Flandres,
20 Grand’ Place, Cassel
coeurdeflandre.fr
+33 (0) 3 28 40 52 55
What to do?
26 Grand’ Place
F- Cassel
World War II Heritage site
La Plaine au Bois
Memorial & Museum
A commemoration of a forgotten massacre of 80 British soldiers during Operation Dynamo.
9 place Bergerot
Esquelbecq
Staying over
In Berthen, on the network of cycle routes,
La Garonde with the ‘Accueil Vélo’ (Bike Welcome) label is a charming guest house with a view of the Mont des Cats abbey.
447 chemin du Mont
des Cats, Berthen
Chatellerie du Schoebeque
A 4-star hotel in an
18th-century house with
panoramic views and a spa.
32 rue du Maréchal Foch
F-Cassel
Cassel restaurants
The Kasteelhof
8 rue Saint-Nicolas
F- Cassel
L’Estaminet du Centre
offers various local specialities
and craft beers along with
its home-brewed beer.
11 rue de Steenvoorde,
Godewaersvelde
Het Kerk Hoek
A Estaminet Flamand© with brick decor - an authentic beer bar where you can also enjoy dishes made with beer.
43 place Saint-Martin,
Terdeghem
Shopping
In an 18th century Flemish farmhouse, La Ferme du Veld, a homewares shop in a bric-a-brac and country spirit.
4 route de Steenvoorde,
Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel
Rosselle Antiquités: an Ali Baba cave for antiques enthusiasts and also featuring a café.
rosselle.biz
69 route de l’Europe,
Oost-Cappel
