Bailleul sits in French Flanders, so close to the Belgian border that you can hear Flemish place names on every signpost, and its town hall belfry, rising over the main square with a pointed spire and a carillon, looks every bit as Flemish as the towers of Ypres or Bruges. Like much of the town, it is a rebuilding: Bailleul was almost entirely destroyed in the spring of 1918, during the German offensive in Flanders, and was reconstructed in the 1920s in a neo-Flemish style of brick, stepped gables and decorative stonework. The belfry is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO.
Bailleul has a strong Flemish identity and traditions to match. The carnival, held around Mardi Gras, features a giant called Gargantua, who parades through the streets and is fed huge quantities of porridge. The town was famous for its lace-making, and there is still a school dedicated to the craft. Just to the north rise the Monts de Flandre, a line of low hills, including the Mont Noir and Mont des Cats, which seem like mountains in this flat country and offer views across the plain to the North Sea on a clear day. The Trappist abbey of Mont des Cats produces a well-known cheese.
The riding here is gentle and rolling, with small roads winding through farmland, hop fields and villages with brick churches, and short climbs over the Monts de Flandre that are more fun than their modest height suggests. Crossing into Belgium is easy, and the roads around Kemmel and Ypres are full of history from the First World War, with cemeteries, memorials and museums. Be careful of cobbles in some villages, wet surfaces after rain and tractors in the farming season.
Bailleul, a town of around fifteen thousand, has fuel stations, shops and restaurants. Flemish cuisine dominates: potjevleesch, carbonnade, waffles and local beers, often served in estaminets, traditional taverns with old wooden furniture and board games. Climb the belfry for a view across the town and the plain, and on a clear day you might see the towers of Ypres on the horizon.