Tour of the Belgian Ardennes September 2009
Dinant
Sunday and the last day of our tour of the Ardennes, saw us heading for dramatic Dinant on the banks of the Meuse. The plan was to drive north beyond Dinant, taking in one or two pretty villages on the way and then drive south on the riverside road to Dinant, spend 3 hours in Dinant and then drive further south on the road that hugs the banks of the Meuse to Givet before cutting across country back to Smuid. Everything went to plan apart from the weather. We left Smuid in sunshine, but for the first time during the whole trip we were forced to put the hoods up by the time we reached the first of our "pretty villages".
This picturesque property is in Crupet. It is completely surrounded by water - not a moat, but more a shallow lake. It was built in the 1600's, but I'd like to know why it was built there as it doesn't seem the most logical place to build. Defence perhaps?
Japanese photo stop in the rain. You can see from Liz's attitude it wasn't too warm either.
Coffee at eleven was taken in Le Belvedere a cafe perched high on the rocky cliffs (Rochers de Frenes) on the banks of the Meuse, and overlooking Profondeville.
The cafe is "hidden" down a rather uninviting dead end lane. It was expected to be one of the most unexpected surprises of the trip and it was. Those of little faith thought we had gone wrong when we turned off the main road.
This picture gives you some idea of the height we were above Profondeville on the opposite bank.
This was the view downriver to Dinant.
..............and this was the view upriver and as you can see the weather is beginning to brighten up.
From here we descended down to the Meuse, crossed over to the other bank and drove down the riverside road to Dinant. Like tihe road you can see in the picture of Profondeville on the right, the road to Dinant hugs the riverbank and is a great drive.
Dinant was another town where we were expecting problems parking, but once again we were lucky. We were especially lucky, because we happened to come here when a Harley Davidson festival was on. There must have been 500 to 600 Harley's doing escorted (by the police) tours of the towns streets. They were quite an entertainment in their specialist leathers and helmets. As if the noise of their engines wasn't enough they were sounding off with horns and sirens as they thundered around the town. You had to be very patient to get across the roads.
Those of us who don't mind heights, took the lift up to the Citadelle which is high above Dinant. There was at one time much more to this fort, but now I feel its only worth while attraction is the views you get of the Collegiale Notre-Dame with its onion dome and the town below. The Citadelle now is like a ship with its superstructure removed. There is a guided tour, but it was of little interest. However, it is well worth the trip up.
Alec and Mary, with a sudden rush of blood to the head, decided to walk down. They counted 428 steps while the guide book states there is 408. I think they should do it again to check their figures.
The Citadelle sans superstructure. At the bottom of the picture you can see the cable car.
We spent 3 hours in Dinant and then continued (hoods down now) to drive south along the embankment road to Givet. As before the road hugs the riverbank and as I said before it is a magnificent drive. The flow of the Meuse is controlled via locks and barriers and so the level remains very near the top of the riverbank, which adds to the attractiveness of the river and its surroundings..
At Givet we turned left over the river and headed east back across country to Smuid and the hotel. The cross country drive it self is a rewarding drive, with good winding roads and the rolling hilly scenery of the Ardennes. The sun was well and truly out now and we once again enjoyed a few beers on the terrace before getting ready for another enjoyable evening in the bar and restaurant.
Rendezvous Hostellerie Des Tilleuls Durbuy Bouillon
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