This morning I rode around the countryside surrounding Bastogne, and then headed over to Dinant, a small town in Belgium’s Walloon Region. It’s on the banks of the Meuse River and backed by steep cliffs running along the river. Perched on an outcrop above town is the centuries-old fortified Citadel. There has always been some kind of citadel overlooking the town, and had been destroyed several times since the 1200’s – usually by the French. After Waterloo, and once Belgium gained its independence, Belgium and Holland very close Dutch engineers built the present citadel and maintained a garrison there to protect against the French. But as that threat subsides it became a training base and jail for the Belgian Army. The Army moved out in the 1970’s and it’s now a museum with sweeping views over the town and the river. I visited the citadel, and for 12eu you can visit the citadel AND ride the cable-car up to the Citadel – instead of marching up the 428 steps.
Below the citadel is the Gothic Church of Our Lady, which is a 13th century church with a very impressive spire. You can go inside and marvel at the high vaulted ceiling and wonder how they could build such things in the 13th century.
Dinot is also famous for two important people. It was the birth place of Charles deGaulle, and the saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax. After a leisurely afternoon it was back to my Bastogne campsite and to start putting things away for tomorrow’s lift and shift to another part of Belgium.
