Tour of the Belgian Ardennes
9th to 14th September 2009
Bouillon and the valley of the Semois
Having established that there was plenty of parking spaces next to the tourist office we thought that there would be no problems parking at Bouillon and indeed in the end there wasn't, but we had a few nasty moments when we arrived in the middle of a sports festival and the car park was being used for an event. Fortunately, the person in charge indicated where we could park without interfering with the athletes.
Our cars parked on the riverside well out of the way in one corner of the Bouillon car park.
The athletic event that was going on started Friday night (this was Saturday) and included cycling, running free and running whilst carrying ruddy great logs, swimming (crossing the river), abseiling and sliding down cables from the top of the castle tower into the fields the other side of the castle! I suppose in my running days I may have been that fit, but it is hard to imagine.
The Semois river flowing through Bouillon
Bouillon Castle as seen from the riverside.
After spending an hour in the town, we drove up to what seemingly was a full car park, but once again the magic of our cars brought out the best in a car parking attendant and we were allowed to park in coned off areas. Some members of the public asked to have their photographs taken in the Ferrari and my Panther. Peter was fortunate, a slim fit young man sat in his car. Some fat bloke wanted to get in mine. I almost had to break his right leg to get him in and saw it off to get him out!
The marquees you can see in this picture the other side of the river, are part of the festivities going on throughout the town. It really was a heavily sponsored big event.
A view of the Semois and the marquees from the Castle tower.
From this picture you can see how narrow the rock is that the castle is on. The river bends in a loop right around it.
Peter and Dennis admire the view. Note the thickness of the tower wall.
Ladies on top, plus Les. Looks windy and it was!
We made use of the seats used by the audiences of the birds of prey displays for a group photograph.
Some of our group watching the abseiling.
At this point we were on the way back to the cars to continue our drive through the Semois river valley.
We drove on from Bouillon following the course of the Semois and stopped at Rochehaut for lunch. This is the view you get of the Semois as it circles Frahan below Rochehaut. Absolutely gorgeous and typical of a great deal of the area's scenery.
We had lunch in the sun, on the balcony overlooking the valley. Couldn't be better.
The omelettes and chips and the spag bol wasn't bad either.
Following lunch we continued our drive through the Semois valley to Bohan, before heading northeast via the empty country roads to Smuid and our customary beer on the hotel terrace.
Rendezvous Hostellerie Des Tilleuls Durbuy Dinant
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