Ostend where the North Sea meets art

The artistic charm of the Belgian painter James Ensor and the soul of Flemish fish cuisine. These are the special features of Ostend, a lively Belgian North Sea city inextricably linked to fishing. Its prized grey shrimps are known the world over and its focus on sustainable fishing that also values 'by-catches'. The latter, together with sole and cod, are the stars of the North Sea Food Festival, the event that for 11 years has brought together 27 local chefs on the Zeeheldenplein beach, led this year by the founder of North Sea Chefs, Filip Claeys.

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On Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June you can discover one of 28,000 new recipes and creative dishes designed to enhance the catch of the day at the Vistrap market. A perfect opportunity to taste lesser-known fish such as lesser spotted dogfish, red gurnard and moorhen. To find out just how complicated the execution and selection of ingredients of the famous Garnaalkroketten (shrimp croquettes) can be, the appointment is from 11 to 13 October, with the Garnaalkrokettenfestival: inside the Ostend Hippodrome, where 11 restaurants in the city compete for the title of the best croquette of the year. In order to win, the chefs not only have to serve over 48,000 croquettes (last year's figures), but also convince the two juries - technical and popular - by following the strict rules for creating the 'perfect croquette': the grey shrimps, strictly fresh from the North Sea, must be peeled by hand, the filling - consisting of a bisque made from the heads and carapaces of the crustaceans, flour and butter - must be firm, and the outer coating must be crispy and fried in fresh oil. In Ostend, as in all of Flanders, croquette is a very serious matter; it is not simply street food, but a true manifestation of Flemish gastronomic culture. The traditional method of fishing the grey shrimp was declared an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco in 2013. From June to September, 20 km from Ostend, in the small town of Oostduinkerke, you can still see the fishermen-cavalrymen, wearing typical yellow boots and riding sturdy Brabant draft horses, dragging nets on the sand into which the prized shrimp directly land.

Coast Blankenberge

The Belgian Coast, which stretches 67 kilometres from De Panne to Knokke-Heist, is a place with a dual soul: beaches, sea and sand dunes are intertwined with history, art, culture and food and wine traditions. Nature reserves such as the Zwin Nature Park and the Doornpanne dunes can be found on this stretch of sea, which joins the French and Dutch borders, along with modern and contemporary art museums dedicated to various artists. In fact, the sea has always exerted a strong attraction on artists, in particular James Ensor, Paul Delvaux, Costant Permeke, Luc Peire and Vigor Boucquet, who linked their lives to this misty coastline, leaving an artistic legacy that can be discovered, step by step, by following the Flemish Masters by the Sea itinerary. A visit to the atelier of the Belgian painter and engraver Luc Peire in Knokke-Heist means immersing oneself in his dynamic spatial counterpoints and beams of light, while a stop at the De Vier Winden (The Four Winds) estate in Jabbeke recounts the country life of Constant Permeke and allows one to enjoy a moment of relaxation in the garden oasis surrounding the house-museum. Ostend is the birthplace, on the other hand, of James Ensor, who shaped its artistic profile throughout his life, now summarised in his house-museum. The city continues to dialogue with its memory, as in the large mural by street artist SozyOne The city continues to dialogue with its memory, as in the large mural by street artist SozyOne To get to know the mysterious world of Paul Delvaux at close quarters, one must stop in Koksijde, where his masterpiece La Gare foresti is exhibited in the museum dedicated to him. Also named after him are the walk through the fishing village of Saint-Idesbald and the loop bike tour to discover the milestones of his life, between Koksijde and Veurne. Here, the tour of the Flemish Masters by the sea continues with the works of the Baroque artist Vigor Boucquet..

Eurocycl0 - Westtoer © Westtoer - Hilde Lenaerts

The Belgian coast is home to some of the country's most impressive nature reserves, criss-crossed by cycling and hiking trails that allow you to fully enjoy the unspoilt and diverse nature. In De Panne - the Belgian hiking capital - you can immerse yourself in the imposing dunes of the Westhoek Reserve or set off on the Streek-GR Kust, the 103-km-long path that winds its way along the coast through forests, parks, sea, beaches and sand dunes. Birdwatchers should not miss a visit to the Zwin Nature Park, where Flanders and the Netherlands merge to create a landscape that changes with the tides. It is here that the North Sea spreads inland, cyclically transforming the landscape and making it a favourite spot for storks, herons and migratory birds as a stopover on their journey to, and from, the south. To encounter the true soul of the Flemish coast, cycle tourists can tackle the 85 km coastal cycle route through sea, forests, dunes and flat stretches. To discover the Belgian coast without too much effort, there is the public tramway, Kusttram, which runs the entire coastal route from De Panne to Knokke in 143 minutes on the world's longest tramway line.

Nick Decombel Fotografie

Although the grey shrimp is the most characteristic element of the local cuisine, on the beaches all along the coast it is impossible to remain indifferent to the call to indulge in the soft fried doughnuts filled with custard, sold since the Belle Époque. And to accompany sweet or savoury, you cannot miss the drink for which Belgium is known the world over: beer. There is a wide choice of Ale, Trappist and artisanal or abbey Lambics to sip with your feet in the sand, in the numerous breweries along the coast or taking advice from Martine, a zitologist and owner of T Hof Van Den Hemel, a restaurant housed in one of Veurne's oldest houses, who can identify the perfect beer for every palate.