Bergues found a new kind of fame in 2008, when the comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, filmed here, became one of the most successful French films of all time, and suddenly the whole country wanted to see the town where a postman from the south is exiled to the cold north and ends up falling in love with it. The film's best-known scenes include the belfry, from which the hero rings the carillon, and the town still welcomes visitors who come in search of the locations. But Bergues was a proud place long before cinema arrived. It is a small fortified town in French Flanders, surrounded by ramparts and canals, with fortifications improved by Vauban in the seventeenth century.
The belfry is part of the World Heritage site of the Belfries of Belgium and France, towers that symbolised the power and freedom of the medieval towns. The original tower was blown up by retreating German troops in 1944, and the present belfry was rebuilt after the war in a style inspired by Flemish tradition, with a carillon that plays regularly. Climbing to the top gives you a view across the flat Flemish plain to Dunkirk and the sea, with church towers and wind turbines on the horizon.
The landscape around Bergues is the Flemish maritime plain, land won from the sea and marshes over centuries, crossed by canals and drainage channels. It is flat, green and windy, with big skies and fast-moving clouds. Riding here is about gentle roads along canals, through villages with red-brick houses and Flemish names. To the south, the Monts de Flandre, such as Mont Cassel, rise from the plain and offer short climbs, cobbled streets and views across to Belgium. Watch for cobblestones in the towns, slippery when wet, and for strong crosswinds on the open plain.
Téteghem and Dunkirk have fuel and supermarkets, and Bergues has cafés, bakeries and restaurants around the main square. The local cuisine is rich and hearty: carbonnade flamande, beef stewed in beer; potjevleesch, a cold terrine of meats in jelly; and the strong cheeses of the north, including the Bergues cheese washed in beer. Wash it all down with a local beer from one of the breweries of French Flanders.