Voormezele, Westouter and Kemmel

Just below Ypres you cycle through the Heuvelland, which stretches along the French border. You start your route in the middle of the rolling landscape of the Ypres Salient on De Palingbeek, a stream that flows into the Oude Vaart. The Palingbeek is part of a vast domain that bears the same name - one of the most important nature reserves in the region, with many plant and animal species. You cannot ignore the First World War in this region. In those terrible times, Ypres was besieged from three sides, a front that became infamous as the'Ypres Salient\\\', the Ypres Salient. Domain De Palingbeek and the surrounding area turned into a large battlefield, where thousands of soldiers lost their lives. The landscape still preserves the deep scars in the form of bunkers and cemeteries. Everywhere you come across cemeteries of the Allies, the rows of white tombstones still make a crushing impression. Further along the route, in Kemmel, is the beautiful castle'De Warande\\\'. Here, too, the dark history of WWI resurfaces. The castle of Kemmel originally stood northeast of the village, on the Reningelststraat, and in December 1914 a cemetery was laid out on the north side of the castle grounds. It remained in use until March 1918, when French and Commonwealth troops had to hand over the village after heavy fighting. The cemetery was recaptured later that year, but in the meantime it - along with the buildings of the castle - had been largely destroyed. The castle was not rebuilt, but a new neo-Renaissance style castle was built by the Bruneel family (de la Warande was added later), a prominent family in Kemmel. Today the town hall is located here - perhaps a somewhat grand housing for such a small town, but after a merger of a number of smaller ones, this was an excellent location for all those merged municipal authorities. The then vacant castle in Kemmel offered a solution. The former banquet hall is now used as a municipal council and wedding hall - a wonderful place for a wedding ceremony!