Menen

We have decided to stay here until the deck is finished.  The next few days – long enough to get the deck finished – are forecast to be dry and sunny.  We have memories of trying to get this work done last autumn when we took the boat out of the water at Buitenbeentje but then it was too cold and damp.  If we leave it any longer this year we are going to run into the same problem, so make hay while the sun shine - or paint deck while the sun shines.

Early morning

The marina opposite the free mooring

It is rather chilly in the mornings, just 4C yseterday, so we had to wait till mid-morning before Ian could start work sanding the deck then applying an undercoat of paint.  

Preparing for action

Rust patches filled and primed

Undercoat going on

While waiting for that to dry we went for a ride along the towpath and to a commercial centre with a Gamma (hardware store), Kruidvat, Aldi, etc,etc.  All the stores where you do your normal everyday purchases.  We bought potatoes and onions, a pair of welding gloves for Ian (at a fraction of what they cost in Portugal) and some Christmas presents for friends back home.  In the afternoon I walked into the town centre to look at the Groote Markt and Belfry.

This is not the most architecturally beautiful town we have seen but it does have an interesting history.  It is a border town, and has been for eons.  This territory has been disputed for many hundreds of years between France, the Netherlands, Spain and even the Austrian Hapsburg Empire, and was heavily bombed during WW1 and WW2.

 

Solar panels topping up the batteries

The iBoost antenna held up high on the Robship mooring aid (bought at wast expense and hardly ever used) 

 I was amused by these little statues

Histroy lesson for those who are interested:

There is a panel near this little quay explaining the history of the town.  Fascinating and elucidating.   There has been a settlement here since before Roman times although the earliest records only date back to 1087.  The village was founded in a marshy area on the crossing between the Lille-Bruges road and the Leie River.  In 1351 the town was granted the rights to set up a cloth industry, reliant on the river water, which flourished for over two centuries.  In the 16^th century it became known for the quality of its beer production and between 1520 and 1550 the town had 104 master brewers!   The town was besieged 22 times between 1580 and 1830.  Louis XIV’ military engineer Vauban fortified the town in 1679 but little was left of these fortifications by the middle of the 18^th century.  At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which redrew the borders of Europe following the Napoleonic wars, the border between France and Belgium was drawn along the ramparts of the old city.  The Dutch, now controlling this area, constructed new fortifications on top of the old ramparts, and these are the remnants that we still see today.  But not much of the historical architecture remains today, unfortunately, after the destruction of the two World Wars.