Geraardsbergen is mainly known for three things: De Muur (The wall), their Manneken Pis statue and mattentaarten. The first two didn’t quite interest me. Especially the first one. Especially during one of the windiest days in all of Europe.
De Muur is a very steep hill (berg means mountain in Dutch, so you can assume Geraardsbergen is located in a hilly part of Flanders) cyclists used to go up every year during the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde van Vlaanderen). We walked up and it was very nice: fallen leaves and chestnuts on the ground, trees turning that gorgeous mix of red, orange, yellow and brown.
When we got to the top, the reward: a beautiful panoramic view and a restaurant where we had the famous and exclusive mattentaarten from Geraardsbergen. It’s exclusive because it was granted the Protected Geographical Indication status in 2006, which means they can only be made in Geraardsbergen or in the nearby Lierde.
The pie is basically a pastry shell filled with curdled milk. It doesn’t sound appealing but it is actually very good.
On our way back we saw the Manneken Pis statue, which looks exactly like the one in Brussels and whose origins and age are still controversial. Apparently these two aren’t the only ones and one can’t help but wonder why Belgium has a thing for little naked boys peeing.
De Muur is a very steep hill (berg means mountain in Dutch, so you can assume Geraardsbergen is located in a hilly part of Flanders) cyclists used to go up every year during the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde van Vlaanderen). We walked up and it was very nice: fallen leaves and chestnuts on the ground, trees turning that gorgeous mix of red, orange, yellow and brown.
When we got to the top, the reward: a beautiful panoramic view and a restaurant where we had the famous and exclusive mattentaarten from Geraardsbergen. It’s exclusive because it was granted the Protected Geographical Indication status in 2006, which means they can only be made in Geraardsbergen or in the nearby Lierde.
The pie is basically a pastry shell filled with curdled milk. It doesn’t sound appealing but it is actually very good.
On our way back we saw the Manneken Pis statue, which looks exactly like the one in Brussels and whose origins and age are still controversial. Apparently these two aren’t the only ones and one can’t help but wonder why Belgium has a thing for little naked boys peeing.
Panoramic view from the top of De Muur.
Mattentaart.
The Manneken Pis of Geraardsbergen.
