Friday, July 17, 2026
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Belgium April 2026 - Villers Abbey, Les Jardins d'Annivoie, and Dinant
We left Brussels and drove into the countryside stopping first at the abbey ruins at Villers-la-Ville. It was a little confusing trying to find the entrance but we finally realized we had stopped on the back side of the complex instead of the front. Once we found the ticket office, we walked up a path that took us to a bridge over the road and into the ruins. On the path leading to the bridge there are signs that tell you what was happening at different points in history, both at the abbey and in the rest of world. The abbey was founded in 1146 and abandoned in 1796 so the historic timeline was pretty extensive.
Once at the ruins we took the elevator down to the ground floor to begin exploring. It seems that quite a few of the exterior walls remain, though in various stages of ruin. Some of the building interior walls are mostly intact, and also some of the vaulted ceilings remain along with arches and rose windows. There is a separate building that became the medieval brewery and also a dormitory for the monks. I love looking at the stonework of the vaulted ceilings because I just can't understand how they actually stay in place at an angle like that. It was a nice, sunny morning and very peaceful there without many other people. We explored for an hour or more before moving on.
Our next stop was Les Jardins d'Annivoie. There is a private chateau which you can't enter but the attraction here is the gardens. We walked along paths near fountains, ponds, and streams.There were not as many flowers here as the gardens we had already seen, but there were lots of shrubs and statues. One note of disappointment is that nearly all of the statues are just one-sided plaster or plastic molds, there is nothing on the back of the statue but a post to keep it upright. I realize marble statues are expensive, but I think I would rather have the real thing or none at all. It was a pleasant stop but honestly not one I would repeat or bring friends to see.
Dinant was our next destination. It's a town built on two sides of the Meuse River and I had seen photos of the imposing rock cliff that stands over the town and wanted to explore the town a bit. We had decided to have a bit of lunch when we arrived and as we were walking along the river promenade, we heard a huge boom! It actually sounded a lot like an explosion. There is an old citadel on the hill so we thought perhaps they fire off a canon sometimes? It was rather disconcerting! We shared a pizza for lunch and then walked along the river on both sides admiring the views and watching the boats on the river.
Soon it was time to move on to our destination for the night, Marche en Famenne. Our navigation took us to an entrance to the hotel that was barely wide enough for our rental car. It was a tight fit but not as tight as some we have negotiated. Once inside the parking lot, we saw there was another much larger entrance of course. The important thing is we didn't lose any side mirrors or scratch the tire rims. We had a nice dinner at the hotel, walked through town, and saw a community 5k race. Tomorrow's destination is Bastogne.
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Belgium April 2026 Castle Groot-Bijgarden - a day trip from Brussels
I had planned a day trip to this castle in advance of the trip because it has a special garden event in April. It was a very welcome break from busy Brussels and there were 14 hectares of lovely gardens to wander through. It was not crowded at all and I could feel myself relaxing more and more as we went along. My soul really does belong in the countryside.
The castle itself dates from the 12th century and the current castle is 17th century Flemish-Renaissance style. It is usually only open for events so we managed our timing well. It has quite an interesting history which includes sieges, seizures, political intrigue, and even loss of life for religious reasons.
We entered the grounds crossing over the moat on a five-arched stone bridge that leads to the drawbridge. Once inside we wandered through many separate gardens and there were so many beautiful flowers! We saw bridges crossing the stream that feeds the moat and garden sculptures too.
The garden event is called Floralia and there are bee sculptures hiding within the gardens for children to discover. We saw a type of goose we had never seen before and Google identified it as an Egyptian Goose. There was a whole little family of them with about 6 goslings. They were so cute!
It was a really enjoyable day and we spent more than half a day here. On the way back to Brussels we stopped at Beersel castle on a whim, then headed back to Brussels for our last night there.
Photos from Brussels - 2
Square du Petit Sablon
Photos from Brussels - 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)