We went away for our first long weekend. On the suggestion of my co-workers, we went to the Ardennes region of Belgium. The Ardennes stretches across southern Belgium and into Luxemborg, France and Germany. It is made up of forested hills, winding rivers, and quaint villages. Perfect fall trip.
We stayed in a "Holiday Park" which was very reasonable and great with the kids. Hotels rooms with them can be a bit tough.
Cabins at the Holiday Park
Sunset from our deck
On Saturday, we went to see the Grottes de Han. It is an elaborate cave system dating back to the Neanderthals. The caves were even used during WWII for people to hide from the Germans. We walked over one mile and up and down 200 steps. Brenna walked the whole thing even refusing to hold my hand as we went down stairs and on suspension bridge in a dark cave. Needless to say we were way behind the guided tour. Not a big deal since it was in Dutch anyway!
Cute train ride to the Caves
Caves
One thing I love about Belgium is they always have a parks. This was outside the caves.
On Sunday we went to the town of Dinant. Dinant was occupied by the Romans and valued for its position on the River Meuse. It was very prosperous in the middle ages. The Citadelle is mainly from the 19th century and saw conflict as recently as WWII. You can get to the fort either by steep cable car or by climbing 408 steps. Cable car is must. We took a tour, once again not in English, but worthwhile none the less. I should mention that we were in the French speaking part of Belgium, big difference in the ability to converse in English with people.
Picture from Cable car ride
We also learned a very valuable lesson on this trip, rain boots and cobblestone do not mix - see below (warning kind of gross pic). Liam tripped and hit a 19th Century cannon. He had a cut and a huge egg between his eyes, which later turned to two black eyes. Pretty scary stuff when you are on top of a cliff in a foreign country. I was actually thankful he had an egg before, giving me some experience to draw from.
Yet another park, and this one came with a much needed Leffe beer after the cannon incident!
On Monday we headed home by way of Waterloo, as in the battle of Waterloo. The battle took place in 1815 and was the final defeat on the French emperor Napoleon. The battle lasted 9 hours, 13,000 died and 33,000 were wounded. Staggering numbers. Hugh, Liam and I climbed the Butte du Lion. It is a bronze lion on top of an artificial mound that was raised as a battle memorial. There were 226 steps. Not bad for a 3 year old!
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