Dinant – nature, fun and saxophones everywhere

This trip started being planned when Robrecht insisted on giving me a pair of Teva shoes saying they were the bestest I’d ever wear in my life. I thought they weren’t very pretty and I wouldn’t wear them often but he insisted I could hike, go in rivers, do sports and pretty much everything in them. I said “Ok, but when you buy them, we’ll have to go to the Ardennes immediately”.

He scheduled some days off and we chose our destination and hotel – all we wanted was lots of nature and relaxation and Dinant looked perfect for it. Besides, I’d never been there and I want to explore as much of Belgium as possible.

It was our very first road trip and I was a bit nervous – ok, it’s not that far (around 120km) but neither Rob nor I had ever hit the road on our own. We studied the directions and took the gps along and everything went well. Woohoo! Proud of us being grownups!

So, Dinant is a pretty little town and the birth place of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone and other instruments. There were big colorful saxophones decorating the center and we could also visit Monsieur Sax’s house.

We went up to the Citadelle and I agreed to his brilliant notion that “the cable car is for sissies”, so we climbed a million steps to the top.

I hate stairs and I’m a sissy.

Of course it was worth it and the view from the Citadelle is absolutely charming – the river Meuse rolling lazily and the old buildings standing on both sides of it while a few hills and rocks stand around everything.

We stayed at an Ibis right in the center and across the river. Our room had a river view and so did their terrace, where we had delicious Trappist beers and read Game of Thrones.

 On the following day we got up early to go visit the cave but got a bit side tracked and enjoyed an amazing breakfast at a boulangerie on the other side of the bridge: orange juice, pistolets with ham and cheese, coffee and pain au chocolat.

The tour of La Merveilleuse was really cool, going down that ancient cave, water dripping on my head (at least it wasn’t a stalactite), feeling cold and thinking about countless movie scenes.

Later that day we saw a bit of the Bathtub Regatta and the boats were really funny. The streets were crowded and there were stages, food and drink stands everywhere.

Friday was our last day there and we had booked a kayak “trip” down the Lesse.

It was fun!

I had never done that before and in the beginning I had no clue about how to control that thing, but after some time we got the hang of it. The river is really calm and we could enjoy the view and unspoiled nature, but sometimes it got faster and rocky and we had a little rush of adrenaline. Of course we fell off once and filled the kayak with water + the plastic bag with his wallet and cell phone plunged right in but everything was ok. Luckily, I was wearing my Tevas ;)

In the afternoon we ended up in Rochefort, which is only about 30km from Dinant. We obviously drank their beer and then found a quiet spot under a tree and by a stream to take a nap.

That was it for our “vakantietje”.

We’re planning to go on a bigger one as soon as possible, but learned that Belgium has a lot to offer, it’s beautiful and fun!

Have you been on a nice little trip that was better that expected? Tell us about it!