Journey: Ypres – Tournai – Planes des L’Escaut Nature Reserve – Mons – Dinant (126 miles)
A somewhat frustrating day with a beautiful end. Everyone should visit Dinant, it is simply stunning!
Having stocked up on pastries we drove to Tournai. It’s a strange town – magnificent cathedral and obviously in the process of serious gentrification. In a year or two it will be spectacular, but at the moment it’s rather run down with lots of derelict houses and not much to see. Still it was market day and a great opportunity to get fresh vegetables and practice my Franglais.
We drove on to a small nature reserve to give the pups their first European woodland walk. Unlike the UK they are expected to stay on the lead which was ok as Mabel might have wandered off looking for boar and Ernest is over excited by everything… today’s highlight bring a dead log covered in beetles (he may have eaten some, and we found some in Jasper’s fur hours later 🙈)
On to Mons, and here we had our first (of no doubt many arguments). I’m a fan of wild camping and we aren’t organised to have booked campsites so I found a free carpark… Mark didn’t like as it was too far to walk in, so I drove closer to centre and parked on road. This was only 6min walk rather than 30min but obviously busier and noisy location. In fairness I’ve slept through storms and fire alarms so nothing bothers me but Mark is a light sleeper so no fun for him.
Opting to take dogs for a walk around the city, we saw a public dance performance, lots of churches, belfry, impressive architecture and then at the modern wood sculpture Jasper had a lie down strike and refused to walk anymore 😂 We have had to up their food as normally they would have total of 1.5 hrs walk a day and now they are getting 3hr+ and it’s all very new and stimulating. Mabel has never spent so much time off the sofa…she will be streamlined by the end of this 😜
We decided to push on to Dinant in the hope of finding a quieter camping spot. I was grumpy to have to drive in rush hour to another town but took the scenic route and upon arriving in Dinant we were blown away with the view. We also had déjà vu…we have been here before many years ago with our good friend Ele and had forgotten!
Tonight we are parked by the river right in the centre with gorgeous views, it’s free and a miracle as the city is steep and known for its caves. Perfect end to the day – our first Belgian beer (Leffe Ruby) and pizza.
SofaWolves 