Intro:
We still owe you the last part of our 3-day hike on Saturday, April 17th.
Having well advanced the two previous days, we decided on a rather short hike. We wanted to have a quiet and relaxed day, and time drive back home. The nice thing is: in this region it doesn't matter if you organise long or short hikes, they're always worthwhile. This time, the climax (literally and figuratively speaking) of the hike was Cassel. On the other hand, Steenvoorde was a bit of an anticlimax. Maybe we expected too much of this quiet place where once the Iconoclasm started.
Back and forth:
We repeated the scenario from the previous days.
In the morning we left St-Omer driving to Steenvoorde, the destination of this hike. We unloaded the bikes and cycled to Zermezeele. The shortest way goes through Cassel, but in order to avoid that 'mountain' we prefered a longer road. In Zermezeele we fastened the bike and started on foot.
Once arrived in Steenvoorde we drove back to Zermezeele, picked up the bikes and drove home to Antwerpen.
In total we drove about 500 km. in 3 days. That may seem a lot, but if we had organised the 3 hikes as separate daytrips from Antwerpen, we would have driven 1.300 to 1.400 km. This way we made a humble contribution to our environment, but we also saved our money purse. It was cheaper to pay a hotel, rather than spending all that money on fuel. And we had a relaxed time!
The hike:
Starting in Zermezeele the GR 128 trail is heading towards Cassel. As was also the case during the previous hikes, the landscape is slightly slooping and without any forests that results in nice views. Mount Cassel keeps coming closer to us, or is it the other way around?
Just before starting the climb, the trail makes a little detour through the Samynbos (a small wood). This brings us to the eastside of the hill. As we get higher the views become wider. We're looking down on villages like Bavinchove and Oxelaëre.
(click the picture for more images on Picasa)
As we suspected, Mount Cassel has been inhabited since the ancient times. With its hight of 176 m. it is the highest 'mountain' of Flanders (if you consider French-Flanders a part of Flanders). Cassel also is the oldest town in French-Flanders.
It's only natural that the Romans used it as a stronghold. They constructed several roads leading from here to distant places. You can still trace them throughout the surrounding region. It's also inevitable that this place was often the stage for fierce battles throughout history.
But that's all history. Now Cassel is a nice and quiet little town attracting quite some tourists. It's worthwhile taking a walk around. On the market square we even found a tavern with a terrace overlooking the region east of Cassel. Not bad at all.
The GR trail itself avoids the center and passes by the main church (Collégiale Notre Dame) where it immediately starts descending the hill on the other side. Cassel has a beautifully situated cemetary, a worthy resting place for the english soldiers that gave their lives here at the beginning of WorldWar II. They managed to stop the German army for a few days, enough to create an opportunity for the allied forces to evacuate their troops to England, using all the boats and vessels they could lay their hands on.
Next to Mount Cassel we walk by the Recolettenberg. The name comes from a former abbeye that has long gone now. Now it's just a forested hill in a peaceful and attractive environment.
We have to follow a traffic road for a while, but then we hike back into the fields and head for Terdeghem. At first sight it looked like any other slumbering village in French-Flanders ... although not quite so. The church was open (in Flanders we're not used to open churches) and so we went in to have a look. We were surprised to find Roman soldiers inside, even if it were only statues. The area around the church was worthwhile too: little cozy looking houses. A good place for a stop. There's even a café in the village.
Merely 4 km. further up the trail we arrive in Steenvoorde. GR 128 knew how to lead us there via unhardened country roads. Steenvoorde itself was a bit of a dissapointment. That probably has to do with the fact that in this place the Iconoclast started in 1566. It started a long period of revolts and war for the lowlands, spreading from here to Antwerpen and the Netherlands. But that revolting spirit has long gone. Today Steenvoorde is just a big village, a shopping and trading center in an agricultural region.
We soon forgot the past. The sun was shining and on the market square we found a terrace to enjoy a successful 3-days hike over an authentic Maredsous trappist beer.
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