This past weekend, the weather was beautiful so we took an overnight road trip into southern Belgium to the area called the Ardennes.
The Ardennes forest and mountain range (the blue circle on the map) are primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but also extend into Germany and France. It's in the French-speaking part of Belgium so Ross's French came in very handy!
Our first stop - a popular tourist attraction for over 250 years - the Caves of Han in a little town called Han-sur-Lesse.
The cave is a result of the erosion of a limestone hill by the River Lesse and was discovered in 1815.
The tour takes an hour and a half and the cave is about a half mile long.
Even Winslow got to take the tour!
We stayed overnight and the next morning we headed to this castle.
Chateau de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne
It looked like a house or two I've seen in the States with all the taxidermy!
Begun in the 13th century with only a lookout tower, in 1450, the fortress became what it is today.
In 2004, a non-profit organization restored the fortress and opened the doors to the public.
The castle is complete with a dungeon and a moat.
The architecture is pretty amazing.
Nearly every room had several huge animals like these.
Our next stop was a beautiful garden sanctuary and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for it.
Les Jardins d'Annevoie
The Gardens of Annevoie
There were several ponds on the property and the water was crystal clear.
There are 4 natural springs.
The garden is 48 hectares - or about 120 acres.
Some of the trees are 200 years old and huge!
The natural springs have flowed continuously for over 250 years.
The gardens remained family property until the year 2000 . . .
but were originally designed and laid out in 1758 by the Montpellier family.
Along the road . . .
This was a spectacular find for Jim. He loves this dried sausage.
Jim noticed these bushes along one of the back roads we took so we stopped to check it out.
They were loaded with blueberries!
Jim was the only one brave enough to eat one and he said it tasted like a persimmon before it's ripe.
We could see people on this rock wall ahead . . .
Can you see them? They are tiny, but there are quite a few!
We came upon this pasture full of these really pretty cows. There are a lot of cows in Belgium, but most are not pretty.
This is a Belgian Blue and they are not pretty. At all.
The cows were fascinated with Winslow and before we knew it, the whole herd was headed our way!
Every one trying to see Winslow.
A nice weekend in the Ardennes
