Day 43 – The South Eastern Circuit

We spent today covering about 1/3 of the South Eastern Belgium circuit described in the Eyewitness guide. The circuit covers about 21 points which include several beer breweries, castles, gardens, pretty and interesting towns, and similar things. We figured we would do one of each. We missed Huy, but I heard it is not much to write home about. It was drizzling at times but usually when we got into the car to drive to the next destination. The whole thing took about 12 hours. After the 30-minute cry-fest by Isabella on the way in, we set out expectations for the day really low, but the kids were perfect even though it was a challenging. We had a really great time.

We started in Namur, beautiful quiet and empty town on the river. The main church is nothing special after the splendor of the Brussels cathedral. We walked over to the river and saw the fortifications high on the hill across. Next we wandered around the streets. Checked out a few interesting stores, surprisingly, very expensive. We were really impressed with Namur's Notre Dame: very unusual, non centered layout inside, medieval statues and magnificent glasswork.

The next stop was the Floreffe abbey. They make, no surprise, Floreffe beer, and also cheese. We got into a small town and entered the monastery. It was not like imagined - lots of monks in robes, scurrying around carrying the barrels. Instead there that a functional shop with a sales lady who looks to be very fond of the main product. We got the blond variety and some local cheese, ham and bread. They do not sell samples. The blond is very good in a solid kind of way but not beyond that. Cheese and meat helped us recover the calories lost since breakfast. Having satisfied the crucial needs, we walked around the publically accessible areas. 

The monastery is situated high on the hill above the river and has extensive grounds lots of very substantial buildings of gray stone. Nowadays they also have boarding school, seminary and other things. They also rent out the grounds for the weddings and other events. The last event probably involved a lot of laser and other specialized light equipment as we saw the dismantling efforts from the gruff looking staff.

 

Next stop were the Gardens of Annevoie. It was a very pleasant stop for kids. Georgia and Isabella played on the nice playground with wood carvings. We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and lots of varieties of fountains which were all operating by gravity. There were plenty of areas to play and tell fantastic tales. The only thing that was kind of funny were some of the areas near the vegetable gardens where flat classical statues were displayed. From afar they looked 3-d, but as you got closer you could see that they were flat. I am not sure why it is like that. Maybe a style at the period when those were done? Maybe they run out of funds for the 3-d versions? Some of the pools hosted large trout lazily swimming around confident that they will die of the old age. For the fishing conosseurs living in the castle-home surrounded by the moat with clear water, beautiful water plants, and trout would be a dream come true - wake up, walk out on the balcony in your PJs and trout is out there, waiting. I dare say it is better than the gardens of Versailles.

 

At the end of the property was the wall of the town church and next to it, inside the property was the mausoleum for the family members. Some of the dates were around early 17th hundreds. It is interesting to have a territory to large as to have the family semetary there. And it is interesting that the same family owned this property for over 300 years only to sell it 10 years ago.

 

The next stop was the town of Dinant. The city is squeezed between the river and the mountain. It is one of the prettiest towns we ever saw. Unfortunately it was also one of the busiest. The narrow streets were groaning under the weight of the non-stop flow of cars moving back and forth. And that on a Wednesday afternoon. Elderly gentlemen were screaming something into their phones (we counted 2). Old ladies were doing their promenade at the snail pace (far too many to count). Tourists of all kinds were going back and forth. We were also pretty tired at this point so all this noise in the beautiful surroundings was not helpful. While Isabella nodded off we stopped by at one of the restaurants by the river, we had late lunch and moved on.

 

The next stop was Veves Castle. It really qualifies as a stop because the castle was under construction and outside view is  the main attraction of the castle. So we looked at the one tower that was not covered by the latticework and went to our final destination.

 

Han on the Lesse river is a tiny city that seems to have been created to support the tourist industry to the caves. We took the 1.5 hour tour. It was really enjoyable. We were worried how the kids would respond to being in the closed quarters for so long and also whether they would be OK with the temperature. But both of them were great and all of us had a great time. The caves are beautiful, with lots of interesting staglatites, staglamites, other rock formations. There was a light and sound show in one of the largest caves. It must be incredible to listen to a concert here. Isabella conributed a little song too, the cave acoustics were equally obliging.

 

Afterwards another great playround and some farm animal enclosures that kids enjoyed prior to our drive home. Isabella was giggling all the way back.