blankenberge

Great "action" shot of the bathing machines.

But baigneurs means "bathers," not "beach" (?)

welcome

What must the man sitting alone be thinking of? Is he wishing he was in the water or chatting with the others? Is his head in the clouds?

@la viajera: Actually, the man dragged the chair with him that morning on the train a dozen kilometers from Brugge, intending, when he reached Blankenberge, to rent the use of it, in ten-minute increments, to beachgoers who had tired of standing while watching the waves roll in, but who didn't want to soil their duds by squatting on the sand. Alas, as soon as he held up his "chair for rent" sign, the beach patrol descended on him forthwith, ordering him to desist, and threatening arrest unless he first obtained an expensive seasonal beach vendor's permit -- which he couldn't afford, and didn't want, anyway. When he began to protest, volubly, the gendarmes cautioned him: "Don't make waves!" So he sits now, stymied and disgusted, with his rolled-up rental sign in his lap -- thinking black thoughts, and hoping that a tired soul will notice him, and approach with an offer for the chair. At this point, the would-be entrepreneur may be willing simply to sell the chair outright, or even abandon it, and head back to Brugge in defeat. But before he does that, it's likely that he will wander along the beach for an hour or so, looking for dropped centimes and francs to help finance his purchase of a return ticket on the chemin de fer . . . .

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