Bouillon & Dinant

We enjoyed a fun weekend exploring Belgium. Earlier in the week we bought the girls new bicycles. Both are very pink with baskets, streamers on the handle bars and lots of flowers. Elisabeth has a 20 inch bike (without training wheels) and Kate has a 16 inch bike (with training wheels). Early on Saturday morning we bicycled to our local pastry shop for a tart de citron. Delicious! We biked along the bike path along the Parc de Woluwe - a former railroad line that has since been converted to a lovely shaded bike path. The highlight was when Kate had a little tumble and Rich's pastry fell down "a mud mountain" (according to Kate). Glad Kate didn't go down the mud mountain with her bike! There is a great park for kids along the trail. The girls enjoyed eating their pastry and playing at the park.

Parc de Woluwe

http://www.opt.be/informations/attractions_touristiques_woluwe_saint_pierre__parc_de_woluwe/fr/V/17557.html

Bouillon

Mid-morning we piled into our little Citroen and drove to Bouillon in the Ardennes. Bouillon is southeast of Brussels so it was easy to take the E411. About an hour and a half drive. Bouillon is situated on the Semois river and the Castle of Bouillon looks over the river valley. We enjoyed a picnic lunch along the river and then hiked up the hill to the "princess" castle. Our first. Very well maintained and fun to explore. Especially enjoyed a Birds of Prey exhibition with hawks, eagles, condors, vultures, owls, etc. Truly incredible. The girls thought the Condor was a turkey!

Bouillon

http://www.trabel.com/bouillon/bouillon.htm

Castle of Boullion

http://www.trabel.com/bouillon/bouillon-castle.htm

Dinant

After touring the castle, we enjoyed an ice cream along the river. We jumped in the car and enjoyed a scenic drive through the Belgian countryside. The Ardennes are especially beautiful in autumn. We drove to Dinant known for William Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. We took a cable car up a steep cliff to a fortress on top of the mountain. Truly incredible! There is a wonderful children's park at the top. It had a zip line and the girls enjoyed swinging on the line and playing "pirates" at the park. We toured the fortress later in the afternoon. The elderly tour guide led the tour and spoke four languages (French, English, Dutch and German) for the audience. I think the girls were impressed. Today Kate said in the car, "I speak English, German and French."

http://www.trabel.com/dinant/dinant.htm

At 5pm we started to look for a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, all the restaurants were closed until 6pm. We decided to try a restaurant that was open on the waterfront and enjoyed a lovely meal on the balcony looking out over the river, Meuse. Rich enjoyed a steak, I enjoyed lamb and the girls had an incredibly delicious chicken with fries and applesauce! Rich and I agreed that the chicken was the most delicious.