A day in Tournai

Get ready for the history lesson and lots of photos!

This morning I did 2 loads of laundry (there is a laundry just 50m from our boat: €4 per load for the washer and 50c for 12 minutes in the dryer.  Total cost for 2 loads was €10) and we went grocery shopping (there is a Colruyt about 20 minutes walk from here, a Carrefour even closer, and a LIdl on the other side of the canal).

After lunch I went walk-about.  The history of this town is fascinating.   It is one of the 2 oldest towns in Belgium, established by the Romans in 50 AD (or could be BC, I can't really remember - but, hey, what difference does 100 years make after 2000!)

Then the Franks took it over in 432 AD.  By the 11th century the prosperous woolen cloth trade attracted wealthy merchants to the city and an ambitious rebuilding of the cathedral began in 1030.  Unfortunately, it is in the middle of a 20 year renovation project.  In fact the whole of the old town seems to be being rebuilt, reconstructed and renovated.  The cathedral is surrounded by scaffolding but there is a pictorial exhibition around the outside so you can see what the interior looks like.  Well, if I can't see the original I'm not going to take a photo of a photo!  Here are just a couple of pics that I liked.

The Belfry, which was chiming while I was taking this photo.

The Grande Place

During the 15th century, the city's textile trade boomed and it became an important supplier of tapestry.

The city was captured in 1513 by Henry VIII of England, but it was handed back to French rule in 1519.  While under the rule of Henry VIII, he built a castle here and fortified the Pont de Troux, a bridge across the River Scheldt which was built in 1290.  The bridge and the remains of one of the towers of his castle still exist today. The middle arch of the bridge was blown out by a bomb in 1940 and when it was reconstructed in 1946 the middle arch was widened to aid the barge traffic.

Very impressive!

Henry's tower, also under reconstruction

I loved this Art Nouveau building a came across during my wanderings, built in 1895.

Soon after I got back from my wanderings, another boat skimmed passed our hull to tie up on the dock in front of us.  Who should it be but our friend from the locks a couple of days ago, J....!  Once again, he got sideways on to the dock, banged his bow on the pontoon, no one on deck to fend off, the skipper trying to tie up and drive from an interior steering position (multi-tasking!!!), and eventually ended up 1m from our stern.  Way before that Ian went out to offer to take his lines but he said he was managing just fine!

After a fine day the rain arrived at 6pm but we are having a chicken bbq anyway!