A route of high fermentation

The Westhoek is the West Flemish border region in Belgium and France. In Belgium, Ypres and Poperinge are part of this area, in France it is the well-known Dunkirk. In common parlance, the division of the Westhoek is called'de schreve\\\' (the dash) to indicate that the state border has been drawn arbitrarily here. In the Westhoek, time seems to pass a little slower. In this region, peace, nature and tradition prevail, such as brewing beer. The first part of the route takes you through the territory of the municipality of Poperinge. In this region, the wooded and rolling hills of the West Flemish Heuvelland alternate with drained polders, fields and historical towns and buildings. A lot of hops are grown in the area, which gives the area a unique appearance. And of course, beer is brewed here, such as in the brewery of the Sint Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren. This building is owned by the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, also known as the Trappists. The three characteristics of the Trappist life are a life dedicated to prayer, reading and manual labour. The Trappist beer of this brewery is considered one of the tastiest in the world. Cycling along the banks of the Ieperlee, a partly canalised waterway, you will come across the river IJzer after a few kilometres. Both waterways were at the front during the bitter trench warfare in the First World War. The Belgians used a tactic that will sound familiar to many Dutch people: they flooded some of the polders around the river to stop the Germans. The IJzer rises in France, with a relatively short length of about 80 kilometres it is the only river that flows into the Belgian North Sea. You continue the route through the damp polders of the IJzer, cycling against the current towards the French border.