Tuesday, August 22, 2023

We slept moderately in the ibis Dinant Centre, the air conditioning does something, but not enough to cool the room.
The breakfast is reasonable, there is a choice of a few types of bread and rolls, there is plenty of cheese and cold cuts, and the coffee is good. It sometimes takes a long time before a supplement comes when something is finished. And we are expected to put the used items in a rack ourselves.

After breakfast we want to go to a cave, La Merveilleuse, which is within walking distance of the hotel.
And we want to take a 2-hour cruise on the Maas.

We find the cave, about a fifteen minute walk, and we are there at half past ten. Unfortunately, the cave does not open to visitors until noon.
We discuss it together and decide that we don't feel like waiting until twelve o'clock. Maybe we will visit the cave on Thursday before we go back home.
When we walk back we come across a few nice cats.

Pia has seen pictures from acquaintances of the name "Dinant" in large letters somewhere on something that looks like a square, and she would like to go there, to take pictures of course. Then anyone who does not believe us when we say that we have been to Dinant can see that we have really been there. And it is also useful if we ourselves have forgotten that we have been there.
We walk across a few squares, there are not that many in Dinant, but we find nothing. Then suddenly the photo appears on Pia's phone, and in the background you can see the Citadel and the church in front of it and in the foreground we see water. So what we are looking for must be found along the Maas, and indeed, on the other side of the Maas we see what Pia is looking for.
The necessary pictures are taken and we are not the only ones who do that.

The next thing we will visit is the La Citadel de Dinant. We can go up by stairs, a few hundred steps, or by cable car.
We opt for the latter, it is less tiring, faster, and hopefully Tom has less fear of heights. Fortunately, the latter is not too bad.
At the top we first have a drink to recover at Cafeteria Les Canons.
Then we will visit the citadel itself. It looks neat, there are some kind of exhibitions in various rooms and you get an idea of what it must have been like to have lived here as a soldier, not fun.
We can also go on a kind of terrace with a beautiful view of Dinant and the surrounding area. And there are long corridors, which you should not enter if you suffer from claustrophobia.
When we have seen everything we take the cable car back down.

Then we will buy tickets for the canal cruise. There are two companies that offer a 2-hour round trip, but the first one does not do that round trip today. Fortunately, the second onedoes, we buy two tickets and the tour boat leaves at half past two. We are lucky, we get senior discount.
Because we have to wait another hour, we sit on the terrace of Leddz Bar and we order two glasses of Leffe Amber. It is a nice light and fresh beer.
At a quarter past two the tour boat arrives and we can board. It is busy, but we find good, covered places on the aft deck.
The trip is relaxing, the surroundings are beautiful, but not very spectacular. Only twice through a lock, there and back, is a little bit exciting. Still, we like that we did this.

When we are back on the quay we walk back to the hotel where we rest a bit.
Then we go looking for something to eat.
After looking around on the banks of the Meuse, where most of the terraces are, we have dinner at Taverne de la Meuse. We noticed, jusi like yesterday, that there is no mention of clothing by which you can recognize whether someone is a guest or staff. And it is also striking that the account is kept on pieces of paper and not with the help of a computer.
Pia orders trout, Tom a skewer with leg of lamb. It tastes good, better than yesterday, but the food is quite expensive.

Written on: 2023-08-23

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