A route of top fermentation

The Westhoek is the West Flemish border region in Belgium and France. In Belgium, Ypres and Poperinge belong to this area, in France it is the famous Dunkirk. The dichotomy of the Westhoek is popularly called'de schreve\\\' (the dash) to indicate that the state border has been drawn arbitrarily here. In the Westhoek, time seems to be ticking a little less quickly. Peace, nature and tradition, such as brewing beer, reign in this region. The first part of the route you drive through the territory of the municipality of Poperinge. In this region, the wooded and sloping ridges of the West Flemish Heuvelland alternate with reclaimed polders, fields and historic towns and buildings. A lot of hops are grown in the area, which gives the area a unique look. And of course beer is brewed here, such as in the brewery of the Sint Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren. This property is owned by the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, also known as the Trappists. The three hallmarks of the Trappist life are a life devoted to prayer, reading and manual labour. The Trappist beer from this brewery is considered one of the best in the world. Cycling along the banks of the Ieperlee, a partly canalized watercourse, you will come across the river Yser after a few kilometers. Both waterways were at the front during the bitter trench battle of the First World War. The Belgians used a tactic that will sound familiar to many Dutch people: they flooded some polders around the river to stop the Germans. The Yser originates in France, with a relatively short length of about 80 kilometers it is the only river that flows into the Belgian North Sea. You continue the route through the moist polders of the Yser, against the current you drive towards the French border.