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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 21:05:41 GMT
Dinant is a lovely city in southern Belgium of which most people have never heard, unless they are Belgian or live less than 100km from there. The French border is only about 15km away, while Dinant is 90km from Brussels. It has been famous over the years for various things, such as dinanderie, which is a kind of brass alloy that was famous throughout Europe for several centuries and was usually used to create candlesticks. Its greatest fame is as the birthplace of the inventor of a famous musical instrument, but we'll get to that later. It has two twin cities in France, one being Dinan in Brittany, simply because it is a homonym and the second twin is... Disneyland Paris. I don't know anything else about that, but I would certainly like to find out more. I have often been completely lost in cities like this trying to find my hotel, but there was no problem in Dinant at all, because it is an extremely narrow city along the Meuse river, stuck in a notch between cliffs. And since I knew that my hotel faced the waterfront, I found it immediately. I immediately took a couple of photos out of my hotel window.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 21:12:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 21:21:00 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Oct 18, 2014 0:36:20 GMT
Are people allowed to cycle along the paths you've shown? Are there railway connections to Dinant? Yes, of course I've heard of that town.
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Post by htmb on Oct 18, 2014 2:53:52 GMT
Very interesting. I especially like the last picture in your first post, and am wondering what's on top of the pointy rock. A flag?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 5:10:42 GMT
Are people allowed to cycle along the paths you've shown? Are there railway connections to Dinant? Yes, of course I've heard of that town. Yes, it is also a bike path. There's a train station on the other side of the Meuse. From France, it just costs 7 euros more than the Thalys fare to Brussels to get there due to the 'TGB' option ("toutes gares belges") which allows you to connect to any other train station in the country. I especially like the last picture in your first post, and am wondering what's on top of the pointy rock. A flag? That's the Belgian flag on top of the rock. The question is: how do they get it up there?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 5:20:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 5:53:04 GMT
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Post by mossie on Oct 18, 2014 7:09:21 GMT
Thanks for showing us another place which I knew by name only.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 18, 2014 9:51:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 10:03:28 GMT
K2, why is the (non-official-looking) no speeding sign in English most prominently? A lot of speeding English-speakers? Speed limit signs are usually pictograms, with no "language"... It was clearly just repainted as a historical reminder, hence the sign next to it. None of the locals would know what 15 mph even corresponds to in "real" measurements.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 10:38:33 GMT
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Post by htmb on Oct 18, 2014 12:21:15 GMT
Very interesting rooflines. Also fascinating how the buildings are almost wedged up against the rocks.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 18, 2014 13:54:23 GMT
A wonderful tour through this gorgeous little town. So much to take in with architecture and enormous (must be granite?) rocks looming over everything. I really enjoyed this photo essay.....now to go and look up exactly where Dinant is on the map!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 15:26:53 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Oct 18, 2014 15:41:42 GMT
Is that the Citadel perched up on the rocks?
I do enjoy towns hemmed in by cliffs as they force the developers to adapt and make some interesting choices as they follow the rock faces causing beautiful curves in the streets which you have shown in your photos.
I wonder if my parents ever visited as we lived not very far from Dinant. They loved putting us all in the car and making day trips exploring the region.
The row houses actually look nice to me, I liked the door and window frames and enjoy imagining their interiors.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 18, 2014 17:09:40 GMT
Those stained glass windows in the church are awesome.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 19:09:30 GMT
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Post by htmb on Oct 18, 2014 20:40:22 GMT
Stunning views from up top! Seeing your photos taken from above certainly helps get a better sense of the city in relation to the cliffs and the river.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 18, 2014 20:50:19 GMT
Absolutely lovely visit to this interesting place, Kerouac. Saxy, too. Do you suppose the site was chosen both for commerce -- the river -- and security from invaders -- citadel, narrow stony entrance? Speaking of which, is the road two-way there in the crevasse? I was agreeing with you about the cable height seeming more than 300 meters, but then realized that 30 feet (@10 meters) is the height of a three-story building. So you were well over 30 stories up. That seems about right, doesn't it? You really got some wonderful photos. My sister & I dithered about going on the cable thing in Guanajuato, but couldn't make ourselves do it. Was it scary? The pics in the church are great, too, which is amazing considering the lighting. Good job on documenting the dungeon, too, although it's really creepy. Humans are horrible! How did you decide to go -- was it because it was close to your other destinations? Good choice, in any event.
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Post by amboseli on Oct 18, 2014 21:14:57 GMT
Very nice overview of Dinant. I especially like the pictures from up the Citadel. Years ago, we were the last visitors of the day and we got a very interesting guided tour of the citadel. The man kept telling and telling. My son - 12 or so at the time - hang on to every word.
And I'm wondering too ... how did you decide to go?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 5:46:02 GMT
Do you suppose the site was chosen both for commerce -- the river -- and security from invaders -- citadel, narrow stony entrance? Speaking of which, is the road two-way there in the crevasse? How did you decide to go -- was it because it was close to your other destinations? From what I read about the history of Dinant, it developed mostly because of the river. Even though they built a citadel on top of the cliff, I can't imagine it being very effective protection because it isn't a mountainous area, even though it looks like one from below. The Meuse dug a notch in a relatively flat plateau, so it isn't at all difficult to get around the area unless you have to cross the river at precisely that point. And no, it is a one way lane going through the crag. Traffic in the other direction goes around the pointy rock. Yes, I went there because it was close to my other destination, and I like the whole Ardenne region, even though Dinant is just beyond it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 5:59:35 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 19, 2014 6:39:15 GMT
Yay, more pictures! It's really a lovely place, with all that red brick and gray slate. What is that immense building in #22, the penultimate pic before you show the barracks?
You wrote: And why did they leave their coach there?
They might have been using good get-away logic -- change cars as the pursuers would be looking for the first vehicle. When they left, they probably wanted to do it anonymously.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 10:37:21 GMT
That is the Maison Leffe, certainly the biggest commercial tourist attraction in the city. Since I didn't have time to see it, I guess I will have to return to Dinant some day.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 10:49:25 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2014 12:49:04 GMT
You saw all that in an hour?! Well it's damn good. The views are spectacular and give us the clearest insight as to the way Dinant is built along the river. Doesn't look as if there was a breath of air....the river looks like glass. I just love those saxophones on the bridge!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 15:16:24 GMT
It was almost 17:00 by then so I felt it was wise to take the cable car immediately, although there was another large outdoor terrace to investigate with almost certainly equally interesting views. Oh well, I'll just add that to the list of things to see next time along with the Maison Leffe.
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Post by amboseli on Oct 19, 2014 15:31:47 GMT
Excellent picture of the Citadel with La Collégiale in front. And I see a lot of referrals to Mr. Adolphe.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 19, 2014 15:42:13 GMT
Will be showing this to my husband as I know he would enjoy visiting here, he would enjoy the touring of the Citadel.
The gondola is small. I always feel confident in the maintenance of them, I rarely have heard of any accidents with them, although surely there are. We were on one in Saarbrucken that sat only 2 people each, quite scary, it felt like you could tip it and fall out!
There are so many great photos Kerouac, I particularly enjoy the view from the other side of the river, fantastic photo!
When you do these reports, do you always do them in English or have you ever done them in French to post on other sites?
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