A very short trip today - just
12 km. When I checked the weather forecast
this morning it said some bad weather would be coming in after mid-day today,
rain and wind gusting to 60 km/hr, so we left Kortrijk early, 9.30, and by the
time we tied up in Menen (or Halluin) at 11.00 it was just beginning to
rain.
Thank goodness I did all the
laundry yesterday.
Goodbye, Kortrijk, we'll be
back.
Elle going under the low
bridge out of the passantenhaven.
A statue
Entering the town of Menen
(or Halluin)
A commemoration to World War
One.
We are now in French speaking
territory and as I was dredging my brain
for the French I learnt 40 years ago the man in the office looked at our
address and started speaking in Portuguese - he is from Porto! Well, it was a really mixed conversation - my
brain doesn't click from one language to another that fast and I have not given
any thought to Portuguese for nearly 2 months, whereas I have been brushing up on
the French. Now suddenly, I had to
reboot in Portuguese.
We have paid for 2 nights,
may stay longer if the weather doesn't improve (it really bucketed down soon
after we arrived and I had left my - clean! - jacket out on deck). It is €13.50 per night, water and electricity
included. Showers are €1.80 - not so cheap.
There is a laundry room with big basins, free water, no machines.
Menen/Halluin is right on the
border between Belgium and France; it is called Menen in Belgium and Halluin in France. The entry
to the marina is in Belgium; we are moored in French territory. Simple,
you see!
On the boat next to us, a
family of coots have set up home on the swim platform. When Mrs Coot went off for lunch I snatched a
photo of her eggs.
We asked about leaving the
boat here for 3 months and Sr Santos is going to get back to us on that. This is a "porte de plaisance", a
municipal marina and is operated by men in suits in offices in the town
hall. Hopefully they will say yes and it
won't be too expensive. It is an ideal
spot.
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