What to do in Belgium in the Spring

I know little about northern Belgium, but in the south, in Wallonia, spring is mild temperatures and only occasional rain. Here are some ways to enjoy this marvelous country.

Just outside of the tiny village of Beheme, near L’Eglise, is a festival celebrating old farming traditions. There was a parade of old tractors, horse shoeing, demonstrations of plowing, and steak on the grill. You have missed this year’s fete, but there are many. Local tourism offices will help you find others.

Gran Feu de Vance

There are end of winter bonfires all around between February and April. They are big parties with music and lots of good Belgian beer. Our community bulletin listed these events .

These New Orleans style events are all around, also February to April. Carnivals often run for a week.

We do quite a bit of walking in the forest here. This is the forest d’Anlier, a part of the huge Ardennes Forest. There are trails and marked routes throughout. Walking in the forest is relatively speaking, less spectacular than walking, for example in the mountains in Wyoming. However, they are calm, quiet, refreshing, green, and at this point full of singing birds and flowers. We take these walks, leaving from our front door. We also end up going through fields and sometimes a nearby village.

Between Martelange and Bastogne is an old narrow gauge railway converted to a paved hike and bike trail called Revel. It doesn’t quite get into Bastogne, but comes close. There are numerous small villages along the 22 kilometer trail and the grade is up towards Bastogne, but not ever steep. A great day would be riding to Bastogne for lunch.

The Revel has quite a bit of interpretation along the way, about the railway, but also WWII. Near this place, the Hunters of the Ardennes unit of the Belgian Army faced down an overwhelming force of Germans. Their job was to slow down the German advance, which they did, at a loss of 26 killed and 30 prisoners.

The US Army’s biggest battle in Europe was the Battle of the Bulge, December-January 1944-45. Monuments and interpretation abound. They get a lot of Americans visitors here.

There is a community theater in a village just outside Bastogne which has a very different kind of program. We joined them for four presentations in four different locations around the village, connected by a walk of about 1 mile between each location. The play was a comedy, set in the village, And it ended, of course, with beer (Orval -a world class Trappist beer made nearby-$5, and sausages $5.) I didn’t understand all of the story, but it was just fun to be along.

We had a long conversation yesterday on our bike ride along the Revel with the owner of restaurant where we had eaten dinner the evening before. He raises the trout, his wife serves them in a restaurant. I recommend it!

When I have visited Rome, I am surrounded by American voices. Here, I am the only American. The Belgian people are very friendly; here they speak French, up north it’s Dutch and English. There are B&Bs scattered all around and bike rental opportunities. Most medium size or larger villages have a tourism office. Walking trails and bike routes are well marked. Prices are about half what I see in Texas.

Yo visit this area, fly to Luxembourg, which is only a few miles away and also has lots of historical tourism. The entire country is the size of Gillespie County, Texas. There is a new tram circling the city which now also connects the airport to the central train station. All public transportation in this country is free.