In a leafy residential street in the southern suburbs of Antwerp, there is a white house that looks as if it has walked in from a different century. The Maison Guiette, as it is usually spelled, was designed by Le Corbusier in 1926 for the painter René Guiette, and it was his first building in Belgium. Since 2016 it has been one of the sites in the UNESCO listing of Le Corbusier's architectural work, alongside the Villa Savoye, the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille and buildings on several continents.
The house is a compact box of pure lines, with a big studio window on the upper floor, a roof terrace and a clear structure that let the painter live and work under the same light. Its strict geometry and white walls caused a stir among neighbours used to brick and ornament. It remains a private house, so treat it as something to admire from the street, quietly, without peering over hedges.
Riding here is city riding, pure and simple. Antwerp has a busy ring road, tram lines that grab front wheels, cobbled streets in the older districts and an enormous cycling population that moves with total confidence. Approach from the south rather than through the centre, take your time, and give the trams and bicycles the respect they demand. If you need a bit of air afterwards, head out along the Scheldt toward Hoboken or into the green belt of Mortsel and Edegem.
Practical matters are simple: you are surrounded by a city of half a million people, so fuel, food and coffee are never far away. Antwerp has an excellent café culture, and a short ride into the centre brings you to the cathedral, Rubens's house and the old Grote Markt with its guildhalls. Try a glass of De Koninck, the city's own beer, in a classic bar, or the local pralines and waffles if you need sugar for the ride home.
The appeal of a stop like this is the contrast. You go from the dense, gothic, Flemish heart of Antwerp to a little white manifesto of modern architecture in a quiet street, and it reminds you how much the twentieth century changed the way people live. Stop for five minutes, look at the clean lines against the trees, and imagine the reaction when it was new.