Roadtrip in the Benelux

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Moien,

The weekend had finally arrived for me to visit southern Belgium. I had seen much of Flanders so far, but very little of Wallonia. That would all change as my friend Louis, someone who Gabrielle had put me in contact with before I left Vancouver, said he would drive me around southern Belgium

I woke up early on Saturday (so what else is new), packed my stuff and hopped on the train at Schuman. There were a large amount of south-eastern Europeans on the train, I did not recognize the language at all but I thought that it might have been either Bulgarian or Macedonian, who thought it was a good idea to yell from one carriage to their friends in another carriage. This went on for about an hour until I arrived in Jambes, which is just south of Namur.

Louis met me at the train station and then took me on a bit of a tour of Namur. We saw the Wallonian Parliament, the house where the head of the Parliament lives, the main square, the arsenal, the theatre, the cathedral, the point where the Sambre and the Meuse rivers join and a random collection of beach volleyball games that were happening in the middle of town for no apparent reason. We got back in the car, and drove up to the top of the citadel because we were lazy. The citadel was built 300 years ago by the legendary military architect Vauban. There were great views from the top.

We got back into the cover and proceeded to drive to Dinant. The only problem was Dinant is south of Namur and we had headed north. After a quick stop to ask for directions, we turned the car around and headed back towards Dinant. We followed the Meuse River south past pretty villages and verdant rolling hills. We stopped off for some strawberries en route because Louis swore that the best strawberries in the world came from that part of Belgium. As far as I could tell he was right! Dinant is very pretty. It consists of a small town hugging the banks of the Meuse, with a squat cathedral with a bulbous dome, crowned by a stone citadel. The town was the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the man who invented the saxophone. The town was very picturesque, but it was over-run with tourists and I found it over-rated to be perfectly honest.

We continued further south through the hills until we arrived at a massive traffic jam in Bouillon. I had not seen that many cars in one place since the tractors had caused havoc along Avenue Tervueren weeks before in Brussels. The reason the traffic was so ridiculous was because there was a medieval fair in town that day. We parked a couple of kilometres out of town and walked down to the riverfront. There, we could hear some medieval music being played but we could not ascertain where the music was coming from. Finally, I spotted the source of the noise. Four men dressed up in medieval costume wearing mouse masks and masks with devil spiralled horns were playing flutes. I wish I could have chalked up the incident to alcohol but no such luck. We left the circus and continued up the hill past knights and princesses as well as myriad other medieval displays towards the castle, which was what we had come to see in the first place. The castle was built almost 1000 years ago by the Bouillon’s and it was their powerbase until Godefroi de Bouillon decided to sell the castle and all of his family’s territory, raise an army and go on the First Crusade. He started murdering and pillaging any non-Christians, such as Jews, as soon as he entered Germany and he did not stop until Jerusalem had been sacked. He refused the title King of Jerusalem but accepted “Lord of Tyre” and died a year later in the city. He was a murdering despot, but at least he was their murdering despot right?

The castle itself was crowded but very cool to wander around. It is a ruin, albeit a well-preserved one at that. There were numbers present throughout the castle on walls and towers, but there was no writing present and since we had not taken a guided tour, it was difficult to figure out what was what. That being said, it was great to wander around the surprisingly massive castle. It was dank and darkly lit in some places, but that added to the mystique of the place. The view did not hurt the situation either! There were also many birds of prey (alive) on stands in the courtyards including an Andean condor, which probably was up to my waist and had a wing-span longer across than I am tall.

We left the town and then headed to Louis’s family house in Rochefort. The house was beautiful, even complete with a turret! We relaxed a bit after the long drive before heading over to Noémi’s parent’s house which is located only minutes from Louis’s. I met her sisters, one of her brothers and her mother and father. Her mother is the sister of Gabrielle, and that is how I was put in contact with them. We had a fantastic dinner consisting of what I can only fathom were a variety of quiches.

We awoke the next day to a sky heavy with fog, but it did not deter us from having breakfast and getting on the road early. We were navigating by the GPS this time, and it took us through many little back roads and I have now seen more little Belgian villages than I am sure many Belgians have! We even came across a chateau, albeit of modern construction, that was massive but lacked gardens and looked very out of place in its setting.

By the time we arrived in Bastogne, the fog had begun to lift and the sun was breaking through. The town has 7 roads leading into and out of the city and it has been historically significant as a result. This was definitely the case during World War II when the city was completely encircled by the German advance during the Battle of the Ardennes, also known as the Battle of the Bulge. The American 101st Airborne Division were trapped and, despite freezing temperatures and un-abated bombardment, were able to hold the town until reinforcements arrived weeks after the encirclement began. There is a large monument built by the Americans to commemorate their defence. It is a massive stone monument in the shape of a star, not surprisingly, with the story of the battle inscribed on the walls. Eagles were also omnipresent as well.

We headed south still, and we entered Luxembourg where gas and booze are cheaper. It was quite entertaining to see people filling their cars up with gas, filling multiple tanks with gas, and then heading inside the store and returning with flats of beer and cases of wine! It was much like a duty free in an airport!

Our next destination was Esch-sur-Sûre, which is a little village, occupying a bend in the Sûre River, crowned by a ruined castle. Needless to say the village was very picturesque. Louis and I walked through the village and up to the castle which was started in 927. It afforded excellent views of the village, but I was not able to get the photo of the village that I had seen in publications on the town because I did not feel like hiking halfway up a mountain to take a photo back. That being said, it was a very tranquil place and I really enjoyed it.

Next, the GPS decided to have a little fun with us. Instead of taking us directly to a highway, it decided to direct us on the wrong direction first, then along narrow, winding roads second. The first action was not appreciated. The second was. We were driving along narrow, winding roads that were lined with trees and hugged the edges of hills and we snaked our way up and over one hill before descending down the other side into narrow, rivulet-filled valleys. It took a while to arrive at our destination Vianden, but it was a very enjoyable journey.

Vianden is a small town in Luxembourg, much like Bouillon in Belgium. There is a pretty little town with colourful and a large brooding castle, staring down at everything. One again, there were many people in town because there was a medieval festival. The festival was more interesting than the one in Bouillon because it was less kitschy. Sure, there were maidens and knights wandering around, but there were also Celtic designs and CDs of a woman playing what seemed like a large bowl. The merchants lined the way on the walk up to the castle, building the excitement for the castle itself. Vianden, much like other castles in the region, is over 900 years old and has been consistently expanded over the years. It was pretty much a ruin until the government of Luxembourg decided to refurbish the castle during the 20th century. What remains is a castle that almost feels like it could have been lived in to this day. It was fun to wander around, and there were many descriptions, so it was quite different to the day before in Bouillon. That being said, both castles were enjoyable in different ways.

We left Vianden and headed back to Belgium so I could catch a train back to Brussels because I had to be at work the next day. En route, we went back through the town of Rochefort where I could make out the tips of the towers on the cathedral before stopping at the Abbey St-Rémy. The abbey itself is not too spectacular, but it is one of the Trappist breweries in Belgium where monks brew excellent beer. In this case, the beer is called Rochefort and comes in three varieties. I said goodbye to Louis, and then boarded by train back to Brussels.

The weekend was excellent. It was great to see a lot of things in southern Belgium and northern Luxembourg that I would not have normally been able to see without access to a vehicle. Many thanks to Noémi and her family for there warm hospitality and food and many thanks to Louis for taking the time to drive me around southern Belgium and housing me during my time there.

Bye for now,
Peter

Things I learned in southern Belgium and northern Luxembourg:
-It is impossible to beat local hospitality
-I can never see enough castles
-Luxembourg is surprisingly beautiful and there is a remarkable amount to see there

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Photos

My Hosts
Noemi (third from left), her family, and Louis (second from right)

Comments

[Al Fortran]

Traveling to Europe
Oh wish I could have the same experience as I've never been to those places yet. If I could bring my wife as well - it would be splendid. Thanks, though. http://adolphe-sax.com