We have had a wonderful tour of this region of Belgium, courtesy of Manuel who worked at the youth hostel north of Brugges. As a result of Manuel's recommendations, we visited Gistel, sampled a special cake at Veurne and unfortunately ran out of time to visit Sint Sixtus Brewery in West Vleteren. St Sixtus has the distinction of being one of the 6 officially designated Trappist Breweries in Belgium and its beer, Sixtus 12, has won many awards and has been judged "the best beer in the world".
We knew that on our way to Ieper, that we could not fit a visit in, so we decided to save it for our departure from Ieper when we will head to Boulogne sur Mer. So, this is the day!!
The riding here is so effortless and easy to navigate because of the routing system. We are hooked on the Belgian (and Dutch) numbered route system. Numbered signs at each intersection keep you on track - you always know where you are...where you are going...and where you are coming from. As a result of Manuel's enthusiasm for his country, we have taken inspiration from him and have enjoyed being spontaneous and making endless detours to villages that look interesting on the map. The only problem with this is that it is hard to make distance in a day. However, we are having fun exploring and that is what is important to us.
We reached St. Sixtus brewery and it was a sreaming hot day. It was the kind of day when you are constantly seeking shade and riding the bike was challenging. We debated (briefly!!) whether we should sample the award winning beer as it has a high (10+%) alcohol content. I say a brief discussion, as one can only taste this beer here onsite. On occasion, they allow purchases of 6 packs - but this beer is only available here. St. Sixtus makes 3 beers only: St. Sixtus 12 (the best and strongest), Sixtus 10 (8%, brown) and Sixtus 8 (6% blonde).
Barry tried the 12 (complex flavours, rich and tasty - delicious), Mary Ellen tried the 10 (loved it) and we shared an 8 (also good). They also offer reasonably priced food all of which is also made by the Trappist monks - bread with cheese or pate and pickles/onions.
We are so glad we stopped here. Belgium is distinguished by its excellent and many types of beer, but this experience was unique.
As you can imagine, having sampled these wonderful (and strong!!) beers, which combined with the heat of the day, we found that we had to call it a day. We couldn't find any camping or accomodation in the area, so we decided to backtrack to Poperinge and find a hotel. Barry negotiated a deluxe hotel suite down in price considerably. What a deal - we had a spa tub, spa shower, a suite which was more luxurious than our home - and we loved it. We both had long soaks in the jacuzzi tub, had showers, and felt like we were in Disneyland for adults. Poperinge is a delightful small city but it appears that most people go to nearby Ieper and bypass this town. We were glad of this as we were able to get an incredible experience for a bargain.
Poperinge is located in a major hop growing region. We enjoyed riding through these fields that supply the local breweries.
Leaving Ieper was bittersweet as we really enjoyed our time here. You can see the natural beauty of the city with the stone wall and ramparts forming a scenic boundary surrounding the city. The bicycle trail winds around this wall, through a park which is car free.
We shared the Blonde, Trappist 8. St. Sixtus makes only 3 different beers - This one is the lowest in alcohol content and the lightest in flavour. It was very refreshing.
This work looked back breaking to us. It was such a hot day and the continual bending down and the cutting of each head off of the stalk and then on to the treadmill was hard work.
