Wallonia Travelogue
Previous Trips > HOLIDAYS > WALLONIA 11-18/6/2023
Tu3a 2023 TRIP TO WALLONIA
Wallonia? Where is that? Now we know.
Not many people do. I imagined
the area south of Brussels to be similar to Holland but was pleasantly
surprised to find much of it full of deciduous woodlands and gentle, winding
hills and roads.
Summer arrived a few days before
we left, so back into the cupboard went the dull woollies and out came the
colourful summer cottons. The coach and
Dave, our trusty driver, were waiting for us at the meeting place and off we
went in good time to pick up Lance, our guide for the week. We then negotiated passport control, Le
Shuttle and the roads of Wallonia, which involved some tight manoeuvres at
times. Dave was faultless the whole
week, apart from circumnavigating the odd roundabout a few times.
After a short comfort stop at an
obscure gas station/shop we arrived at our hotel just outside Namur in good
time and were allocated our rooms. Once
settled in we regrouped at the restaurant and so began the game of ‘what did I
order?’ - the menus having been
circulated 2 weeks before. Of course our
organisers were on the ball as usual and they had copies of our choices.
Our first visit was to the lovely
Water Gardens of Annevoie, near Dinant, where peaceful rivers fed naturally
from the River Meuse flow through the gardens which were designed in the 1700s
in the grounds of the original chateau built in 1620’s. In the afternoon we were met by an
extremely knowledgeable guide who took us round the beautiful neo Gothic
Benedictine Abbey of Maredsous, which is still used as a retreat and brews its
own beer.
After a restful night’s sleep back at the
hotel we were up and raring to go to Dinant, again on the River Meuse, and the
Citadel, an impressive fortress overlooking the town, accessed either by steps
or cable car – we used the latter. The
citadel was built in the 1800’s during the Dutch occupation and later in its
history was used as a shelter, lookout and defence against the Germans in August
1914. Many artifacts have been left
there such as cannonballs and guns.
There are also the sleeping quarters, bakery/kitchen and a vivid noisy
depiction of what it was like during an attack.
The weather was extremely hot
throughout the week, and it was a relief to cool off in the Caves of Han which
have been occupied by man for 10,000 years. We walked along 1.5kilometres of
well laid out paths looking at the
extraordinary stalagmites and ‘tites in the beautiful chambers and galleries.
Day 4 arrived and after the usual
delicious breakfast taken indoors or on the veranda, we made our way to the
coach on which many of us were seem to be catching up with some sleep before
arriving at Durbuy, not far from the Luxembourg border. Here we visited the pretty Topiary Gardens, a
pleasant peaceful little area to wander around with some extraordinary
sculptures, including a ‘baby elephant’ and what looked like jockeys riding dogs
over some jumps. Later we experienced a
guided tour of the little town, which likes to call itself a ‘city’, and tasted
some much appreciated local beers. In
the afternoon we visited La Roche en Ardenne on the River Ourthe, a lovely town
which suffered in The Battle of the Bulge in WW2. Here we were left to our own
devices and found a pleasant restaurant by the River for lunch.
It was a quieter Day 5 with a
visit to Waterloo and Wellington Museum –I eventually found my way out of the
maze of a building that is the ‘Citadel’, and sat in the shade watching people
climbing the Lion’s Mound. Eventually I
could resist it no longer and puffed my way up the 226 steps, to be rewarded by
a panoramic view of the countryside where the Battle was fought. The
afternoon visit was a guided tour of the Nivelle Collegiate Church of St
Gertrude, who we discovered was the Patron Saint of Cats. The original church built C1040 was
completely destroyed during WW2 enabling the discovery under the rubble of the
ancient crypt – which we were taken around.
A somewhat dusty and spooky experience!
To Liege the following day, where some of us
did the walking tour and/or the Flea Market, while others rested in a cool
quiet church before discovering the C&A Store and enjoying some retail
therapy. It was a pleasant, if noisy
lunch which followed – due to the massive amount of road works in the
town. Then a visit to the Chateau Jehay
which, again, was unfortunately under renovation. However the gardens were lovely and
relaxing. We were told by one of our
organisers, that the large circular art works in the moat were for training the
fish to jump – but we didn’t believe her!
Our last full day included the
Strepy-Thieu Boatlift on the Canal du Centre - an amazing feat of engineering
and quite fascinating to visit. We
enjoyed a very pleasant hour or so cruising on the canal and then drove to Mons
to visit the museum – a sad reminder of how awful WW1 was.
We had fun on our last night at
the Ibis Styles Hotel and the following morning made good time to Lille, with a
visit to the Palais des Beaux-Arts. What
a wonderful gallery it is, and such a treat to see paintings by Brugel, Van
Dyke, Monet and others. In complete
contrast we walked back to the coach via a park where hundreds of athletes were
competing in the 2023 Beach Volley Ball World Championships.
Dave drove us back to Tonbridge
safely, only circumnavigating one roundabout on route, and we all agreed it had
been a terrific holiday and extremely well organised. Many thanks to all involved, and here’s to
the next one!
L Mitchell 7/23