One of the main reasons we wanted to visit Bruges was to view the famous statue of the
Madonna and Child housed in the church.
If you had enough money, a person could be buried in a crypt such as this one that contains artwork and symbols on the side as can be seen.
Local nobility often paid for artwork as can be seen here and elaborate tombs for their remains.
Pictured below is a very ornate confessional where repentant people would come to confess their sins to the priest of the church. Not exactly a great place for comfort, connection or counsel.
This workmanship of this statue is legendary and was created over 500 years ago.
Just up the coastline from this part of Belgium is Dunkirk, France the location of a very famous World War II battle that almost led to the complete defeat of Great Britain in the war, prior to the USA's entry.
In a little more than an hour, we were in France.
Pictured above is a leaflet that the German military dropped over the hundreds of thousands of trapped British, French and Belgian soldiers inviting them to surrender.
The art below depicts the hopeless situation they were in, literally being pushed into the sea with nowhere else to retreat.
While Dunkirk is known for the military failure of both sides in the conflict, the story of the evacuation of the trapped soldiers is remarkable. The numbers shown above are the numbers evacuated and it is truly a miracle that so many were rescued in such a short time.
The beach where it all happened.
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