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pumice

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What follows is a report from a few trips over to Belgium in 2013... It was my standard type epic report that I never finished and as a result, never published. I have just found the draft in my saved documents whilst looking for something else. Apologies for the unfinished nature and the rather ostentatious language, but I hope you enjoy it and please don't slate me for the unfinished end! Thanks.
A bit of Belgium & a little bit less of Paris, the Catacombs and Charleroi... March, July + September 2013



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1. Pasted - Home Sweet Home - Belgium



Belgium, where to begin? A place I never cared much for pre my exploring days and a place I thought had nothing much to offer other than flat cycling, the European Parliament, obscenely small statues of urinating children and muscles accompanied by the ubiquitous skinny fries! Well, and I'll be the first to admit this, I was wrong... Very wrong! Belgium, as I am sure all who frequent this site will know, is epic. Mind blowing, gobsmacking, awe inspiring, stupendous and a million other adjectives pertaining to the same thing. It's awash with all things explorable. Vast and historical, discrete and touching. An explorer’s paradise mainly untouched by the hands of thugs and mindless vandals that so abound throughout the UK. This is a report comprising the locations visited during a 3 day tour of said country at the commencement of this year, a later trip in July that ended with solitary adventure and 6am trains to Paris and a recent brief sojourn beneath that marvelous city of Paris. To her catacombs and the home of much unspoken art and wonder. As my reports are generally long, I have decided to place all these trips together for everyone’s review and have made the choice to elaborate on each trip as a whole, as opposed to the usual location reporting. Each image is placed at random, but named, with the location being revealed. The one exception to this being the 5 or so images from the catacombs which, so different to all other shots contained, worked better as a grouping.
I hope that you all enjoy my efforts.........!​



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2. Through Stained Glass - St. Hilarious Monastery - Belgium​


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3. Erasmus - Tree House - Belgium



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4. Pristine - St. Hilarious Monastery - Belgium​


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5. - St. Hilarious - Belgium​


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6. Blindly - St. Hilarious - Belgium



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7. Yes - St. Hilarious - Belgium



"It's freezing"! Words spoken so frequently by all who attended this icy blast of a road trip back in March. The decrepit winter that seemed to be drawn so long over the months between October to May this year was still stalling the first signs of spring and the cold will be remembered long by myself. Despite this and with a back seat full of snackable materials (cheese, ham, pain au chocolate, cigarillos) this road trip began with enthusiasm and excitement as I made my way via Hertford (or somewhere like that) to the ferry crossing and the pleasant company of a few others whom I will decline to name as I can't recall their screen names. However, the trip was minutely planned by P7 and Urban X and a thanks extends to those 2 and to all who attended. It was cold, it was tiring, but also, it was incredible. Kilometres upon hours watching the flat lands of Belgium drifting past broken by tremendous explores and macabre discoveries (I reference the frozen and mummified cat at Tree House here). Our first night in the reassuringly cheap hotel we called home for the weekend passed with beer, early nights and promises of earlier starts. As alarms sounded and the north wind blew we all excited at the usual ridiculous o'clock and began our days as 2 separate groups in 2 different cars. Our first location was Tapioca Farm. I must be frank here and admit that I do not know the exact location or history of the place, I only know that it is packed full of items. A bursting attic atop a barn was the first sight we had of this place and it did not disappoint. Chocked full of the relics that at one time must have been dear to it's Belgium occupants and scattered pleasingly with broken light from it's broken tiles it made for a few decent images. We progressed further in to the house and found it's tables, it's stove and it's ornately arranged interiors. We arrived a half hour before sun up and sat freezing on the sofa awaiting this. With the sun up, the red photographed and hand warmers placed gratefully inside everyones gloves, we headed back to the car and on to location number 2, Villa Hector!



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8. Unusually Straight (for a labyrinth) - Ecole Labyrinth - Belgium



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9. Winter Dawn - St. Hilarious Monastery - Belgium



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10. Cold Red - Tapioca Farm



Urban X reported this explore well and mentioned the creepy funeral invite that had arrived detailing the funeral for the exact day and time we were all exploring the property. It was a favourite of many who attended, but I found it's full drawers and detritus from a life only recently lost a little too soon. I felt uncomfortable for a good while within it's walls, but was also marvelled by the collection of such objects from that life only recently lost. As we left the day's wind increased and with it the first signs of the snow fall that would accompany our second day thoroughly. We headed onwards and with chilled exuberance arrived at Eylenbosch Brewery. We weren't it's only visitors at this time and our second group convened with aplomb and on cue. The site, I thought was beautiful. As with most breweries, it was on a large scale and contained some fascinating snow strewn barrel rooms and an exquisite tasting area. As our Dutch accomplice relayed the story of his falling through a floor in their previous explore, I went off to find out more about this brewery built in 1851 and closed in 1989 due to the extended brewing process of it's much vaulted artisan beers. It really was a stunning site and as with most of the explores I attended on this trip, the hour or so we spent there was nowhere near enough! But, time is precious and with location lists long we headed on out after group 2 towards the much revered staircase of Hofman B. A very quick visit made easy by the front door being left unchained and unlocked. We strolled in, aware that a builder or somebody could be already in there. With quickened heart rates we rapidly took our shots and ran out of the open door to sat navs, ring roads and our only flirtation with Brussels itself! A flirtation consisting of us just driving through its pretty south western (I guess) suburbs towards Ecole Labyrinth and the final explore of the day.


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11. Bottled Breakfast - Tapioca Farm - Belgium



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12. Eylenbosch Brewery - Belgium



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13. Want a seat? - Tapioca Farm - Belgium



In easy enough through a broken fence at the beginning of a building site, we headed towards the endless corridors of a school appropriately called Labyrinth. With gym equipment still remaining we enjoyed probably the gyms the most, but the corridors meant for some good photography too.


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18. Trashed & Heavy - Charleroi Operational & Derelict metal works ETC- Belgium​


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8. Not Burning - Charleroi, Belgium.​


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9. ReUse - Charleroi - Belgium​


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10. The Light Cast - Villa Wahlfart - Belgium



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11. Absorption Gallery - The Paris Catacombs​


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12. Half of Stairs - The Paris Catacombs​


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13. First Found Space - The Paris Catacombs



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14. Candles - The Paris Catacombs​


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15. Torched Mosaic - The Paris Catacombs



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16. Sinister - The Paris Catacombs



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17. La Plage - The Paris Catacombs



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18. Crazy Space - The Paris Catacombs


















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Nice one! Been waiting years to see these!
Nicely reported Sir! :)

Haha... Yep, it has been a while! I ended up listening top your Radio 4 thing last night. I can't believe you actually said peeling paint was like "porn" to explorers! That made me smile rather a lot
 
Awesome report and images, my fave being: The Light Cast - Villa Wahlfart - Belgium. Top work
 

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