Belgium

Our first stop in Belgium was in the town of Hastiere to find information on the Ravel Bike Paths, the Belgian equivalent of the Voie Verte.  We were lucky to find a very helpful man at the Tourism Office, a cyclist himself, assisted by his young son.  He had traveled and worked in the US and spoke excellent English.  We were given maps and brochures and he made a reservation for us at a B&B.  He also told us not to miss a chateau right beside the bike path and, since we had the time, we listened to his advice...

This is the Chateau de Freyr, a magnificent fortified mansion on the river Meuse, built by Jean d'Orjo on land acquired in 1378, where twenty generations of the family have lived since then.  The orange trees in the formal gardens are 300 years old, there is a large maze, a "cottage" and an enticing grape arbor for secret assignations.

The interior is equally beautiful, with skilled artwork to be seen in a fireplace crafted from the local grey marble, the fine furniture and the ceilings

There are charming personal touches like playthings for the children - here is a carriage for the dolls to be pulled by a pet goat

and black and white photographs in every room of the family in more recent years 

We finally left the chateau to ride on to Dinant, home of Adolphe Sax who was a musician who invented the saxophone around1840.  The town honors him with saxes (made of fiberglass) which are brightly painted to represent member-countries of the European Union on the bridge. Unfortunately, it was threatening to rain while we were there, so we give credit to whomever put these on the internet.

The scenery seemed to deteriorate from fortified citadels on the Meuse and peaceful towns like Huy, pronounced "wee" with a lovely family-owned patisserie where filter coffee was also served...

To this !!

"So this is their idea of a bike path?  I don't think so!"

~~~~~

Our last stop in Belgium was Liege where we were told there was a very large "techno" parade going on!  We managed, however, to keep away from the "crazies" and enjoy the architecture of the very modern train station.