De Panne Favorites

Favorite thing: I think that the dogs are very special in De Panne, you could even say they are remarkably intelligent.

Well, they have placed signs on the beach, so that the dogs know how to behave.

Like on this picture, you can see that dogs aren't allowed on the beach, and the doggy toilet is to the left.

Favorite thing: You can't miss them, the colourful beach cabins.
I have a few colleagues at work, who live near the Belgium coast, and they call these beach cabins "strangetenten", in fact this the Flemish dialect for strandtenten, which means in English beach tents. It is kind of funny that even in a small country as Belgium there are so many different dialects.

Fondest memory: It is kind of strange, as De Panne is really not far from where I live (about 45 minutes by car), but when I walk around here among the many other visitors, it always gives me a kind of being on holiday feeling.

Favorite thing: Big fun for the children of course, as on the beach road there is a mini steam carrousel.

Maybe that in the past it was driven by steam, nowadays it is driven by an electric engine.

But if you are a kid, that doesn't really matters, as long as the carrousel keeps on turning.

Favorite thing: If you continue walking along the Nieuwpoortlaan, you arrive at a big bus stop. And behind this bus stop you find the quiet King Albert square.

It is a nice place to rest. If you stop at this square do not forget to look around, you will discover some beautiful old houses.

Favorite thing: At the end of the King Albert square there is a war monument, which remembers the soldiers who died in the First World War.

The beautiful house behind the monument is the cafe with the beautiful name: Le Chien Vert (the green dog), what's in the name, I have never seen a green dog

Favorite thing: I found it very relaxing to walk in the Westhoek Nature Reserve. It is a bit of the beaten path, as most people who visit De Panne do not come so far, to go to the beach, and only walk on the beach promenade. Good for them of course, and even better for us, nature lovers, like this it is not very crowded over here , and like this it is still possible to listen and hear the singing of many birds in this nature reserve.

Favorite thing: More then hundred years ago, sand yachting became a sport. Some creative minds dreamed about using the wind as a source of energy to move across land.

Take the combination of a car, a sail and the wind, and you have a sailing car.

Pioneers of this remarkable sport were the brothers Andre and Benjamin Dumont, who drove with their first sailing cars in De Panne and in Middelkerke.

As De Panne has the widest beach of the whole Belgium coast, it is surely the cradle of the sand sailing.

Favorite thing: As you can see at this big billboard, made by Elger Esser, it looks as collecting shells is something of all times.

Who can still remember his first visit to the beach . . . and how interesting and fascinating it was to search for those shells, the bigger and more colourful they were, the prouder you were.

Fondest memory: walking in the surf of the sea and searching for shells.