Dinant, Belgium

Along the river – a Belgian Notre Dame, famous beer & star cuisine: The road leads along green meadows and wide fields. Suddenly you turn into Rue l’Aiguigeois. The first of the few houses that line the street is the Hostellerie Gilain, restaurant with a Michelin star and hotel.

But let’s start from the beginning:

Today we are going to the Walloon Region, 100 km from Brussels, near the border with France. We travel along the Meuse river.

The Meuse River or Maas is over 900 km long and one of the major European rivers. It flows through France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We drive along its Belgian part. It is lined by high rocks and flows through small villages. At some point you reach Dinant, which suddenly seems big – actually only a town with just over 13,500 inhabitants. But a small town that is worth stopping in.

In front of a rock face panorama you can see Notre Dame de Dinant, a gothic style church built in the 13th century. The Citadel of Dinant is also worth a visit.

Strolling through Dinant you will quickly notice the numerous bakeries, whose shop windows are decorated with pastries that look like giant cookies. In the form of animals, buildings or the city of Dinant – everything can be found. This is The Couque de Dinant (meaning the cake of Dinant), a local specialty: a very hard biscuit. What makes it special is that it is made from only two ingredients – wheat flour and honey – and is baked in a traditional wooden mould.

Not far from Dinant is the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Leffe. One or the other may now think – Leffe? That sounds familiar. Not everyone may know the monastery, but some might know the Leffe beer. The monastery was founded in 1152 and started brewing ale in 1240. Numerous bars and cafes in Dinant offer the opportunity to taste Leffe beer, which is available in different varieties.