We visited the city of Bruges which is the capital of West Flanders with 117 260 inhabitants with 855 inhabitants per square kilometre. We went to that city on Friday, January 17 th 2020. In the morning we visited the Groeninge Museum, then we had a free area, during which we walked in the streets of Bruges where we could discover shops, monuments and specialities. Luckily it was fine.

I- MONUMENTS:

1) Presentation of the monuments:

To begin with we will give you a presentation of the monuments we visited and others that are important. We started with the Groeninge Museum, this museum brings together works from the 15th century to the present day and the collection exceeds 1400 pieces (paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures...). This museum is a flagship museum of the Flemish primitives. Unfortunately we couldn’t see everything as the museum was under renovation. After visiting the museum we had free time to visit the city. We went to Notre Dame Church. In this church we can admire the Virgin to the Child or ’Madonna of Bruges’, there are also 2 mausoleums representing Charles the Temeraire and Mary of Burgundy and the tombs of the two deceased; you also have to see 4 paintings of the Flemish primitives. We then headed to the Cathedral of St. Sauveur which was built between the 10th and 15th centuries. It is decorated with tapestry, Flemish paintings and tombs from the Middle Ages. This cathedral is a Catholic building dedicated to Jesus Christ. The fire will ravage the building several times without much damage to the treasures that are there. We can see an organ that has been installed on the nave’s grandstand since 1935. There are also 6 tapestries dating from 1731 which are the works of Jasper Van Der Brecht, you can find mausoleums, a marble altar, the pew and its statue or the silver shrine of Saint-Eloi. In Bruges, the main monument is its Belfry. The Belfry is a typical building of the Middle Ages; its tower is the most important tower in the city, with an impressive watchmaking mechanism and a chime with 47 bells. In the Middle Ages, the seal, the charter and the 3 crates of the city were kept in the treasure room of the Belfry. In Bruges, there are many other monuments that we could not visit, for lack of time or because they paid off

2) Similarity to Venise:

Based on my personal experience; last year I went to Venise and on my way to Bruges I noticed similarities between the two cities. To begin with both cities have canals, two large squares with each a tower. The canals give the city of Bruges originality and authenticity. I found the city of Bruges very beautiful and I would love to go back.

II-FOODS:

During the trip, we were able to discover the specialities of the city especially culinary, with the famous chocolates of Bruges. First Jeff de Bruges is a confectionery trademark and also the brand of an agri food company with headquarters in France in Ferrières-en-Brie in Seine-et-Marne. The product are made in Belgium, in Bruges hence the name of the confectioneries except the marshmallow bears which are made in France. This trademark is managed by Philippe Jambon who is the founder of the company in 1986. The company is divided into two companies: Jeff de Bruges diffusion is the supplier and Jeff de Bruges exploitations composed of 121 establishments including paints of sale, offices and warehouses. In June 2017, the turnover of Jeff de Bruges diffusion was 94 million euro.

In the second, waffles, which are very common in Bruges. We could see that there were everywhere on the streets and that it’s a business that works well. We were lucky to taste them; these are much garnished waffles for example: strawberry, whipped cream, chocolate... They are just delicious! In the third frit, which is a tradition in Belgium. As with waffles, you can find them everywhere. They are sold either to take away in small cones, or to be tasted on the spot. Likewise, that day, we bought a cone of fries; they are very crisp and very good.

To conclude, in Bruges we can admire many beautiful monuments as well as beautiful shopping streets where we could taste the different specialities, bring back memories and go shopping. At the time we went there, there were many people including many foreigners like Spanish, English... In Bruges or even in other cities we visited there were many cyclists.

Article by : Antonin, Elise, Julie, Lola, Malyah and Philippine