Cycling around Chimay

Meet at the Auberge de Poteaupré (Trappist caterer) in Bourlers. With the hostel on your left, you head towards the France. At the first crossroads, it heads left towards La Ferme des 4 Saisons, known for its local products. Turn right towards Scourmont Abbey (also called La Trappe) and Forge-Philippe. You pass the entrance to the abbey and continue straight ahead at the next intersection. You cross the right Rue de la Trappe through a meadow landscape with a few farms, then you head towards a grove. When you go out, you are at the Rond-Point. Not a roundabout, but a place where 7 straight roads meet. In the center is the Villa Belle Avoine.

Continue cycling towards Forge-Philippe. To the right of the road is the Ferme du Tenth (originally Ferme de la Pouillette), on the left the Ferme de la Grande Pouillette. At the first intersection, turn right. Further on you will see on your right first the Ferme du Tenth and then the Ferme de la Petite Pouillette. With this, you saw the three Pouillettehoeves. All three belonged to the Lamarcheville project.

Continue cycling until you can turn left just before the bridge over the Oise into Rue des Combles. You pass a campsite and continue cycling to the T. On the left, 4 km away, the first Allies entered Belgium after landing in Normandy. Our tour turns right. Pass in front of the nameplate of Seloignes and the pond of Oise and at the junction after, turn diagonally left. Ignore a road on the right and go further on a priority road. Cross it and continue towards Momignies. Leave a road to the right and left and continue cycling to the intersection. On the left, he goes to the France. Drive straight, direction Mâcon and Monceau. Past the nameplate of Seloignes, you arrive at a mini roundabout. Left. Cross the old railway (now RAVeL) with a beautiful picnic area and continue cycling along the nameplate of Momignies.

World War II Memorial
Enjoy a cure of oxygen through the forest of Monceau and, on the way out, pedal straight on the crossroads. You pass the Imbrechies agglomeration sign and a wooden bus shelter, do not worry about the side streets and continue cycling to the 1832 church of Imbrechies. Turn left here. At the chapel, leave the street to the Museum 40-44 on the right and a little further the Place d'Imbrechies on the left and pass the stables with the turret and the castle of Imbrechies of the 17th century until the fork with the gigantic panorama in front of you. Turn right, direction Salles, pass the castle and the Stele of the Heroes, the place where the first Allied liberators lost their lives in a battle against the retreating Germans. A memorial with tombstones, a Patton chariot and a cannon was built. In the street next to the monument is the Museum 40-44, the smallest war museum in Belgium. Continue cycling and at the first fork on the left, take the gravel road. Pass between the wells and enjoy the view.

The road gets hollow for a while, and then you end up at five points. Take the upward paved road on the right and follow it to the end. Turn left and immediately after right. Leave the church of Salles behind and pedal along the combination of an ancient fountain with a wash house to the N593. Follow it on the right, direction Chimay. Leave the road to Robechies and take the first road on the right just after the sign at the end of the agglomeration of Salles. Immediately after, turn left along the Centre Equestre des 2 Bottes. You now cycle more than 3 km parallel to the N593 on a dirt road and can enjoy a 360° panorama.

At the intersection with the White Chapel, you continue straight. You are now driving on a narrow asphalt road. In front of you you can see the church towers and the castle of Chimay. On the T, follow the one-way street on the left until the end. Cross the N593 and follow the path for cyclists to the N594. Right. You now pedal along a dotted cycle path along the pits and on the finish line of the Chimay car and motorcycle circuit. Ironic that you have a bike lane on either side of the road here, when there is hardly one in all of Wallonia.

At the crossroads, you cross the N53 and continue cycling along the forest Les Monts and the restaurant La Foulque to the center of Virelles. On the left you see the cemetery with a remarkable chapel, on the right the castle wall. You can't see anything of the castle itself. For a while it may be a little more Ignore the church road on the right and pedal further to the T. Around the corner is the Café des Tourists. On the right, it goes to Chimay. Turn left towards Lac de Virelles and immediately right towards Mariembourg and Lompret. You go up a wide road and get a beautiful view of Lake Virelles, where the Aquascope nature center is now located. You pedal along a bird-watching wall, from where you can watch birds, and a picnic area. After the Forges de l'Etang de Virelles, you start a difficult climb and slowly move away from the lake.

At the first point k of noise, where it goes straight to Couvin and left to Cerfontaine, turn right towards Vaulx, but it is not indicated. The road splits immediately. Choose diagonally to the right, skip the road to the left after the house and continue cycling on the narrow paved road. Don't worry about side roads, cross an old railway track and continue pedaling along a hollow road in the forest next to the Eau Blanche. On the T, you pedal to the right. Cross the Eau Blanche and climb a big bend until the next T. Turn left, past the Vaulx agglomeration sign. The road in front of the church is dead, so turn right, pass the Vaulx agglomeration sign and further between the meadows to the crossroads of the hamlet of Neuf Maisons. On the left is an impressive farmhouse.

Continue straight ahead and follow the hilly road between the meadows. Don't worry about back roads and drive past a farm to the busy N99. Turn right and 250 meters further left, direction Bourlers and Scourmont Abbey. Follow this road to the end. Right. Leave the road to the Auberge de Poteaupré and continue straight ahead of the church. Ignore all the side streets, get out of Bourlers by bike and pass the nameplate of the Forges. Continue pedaling straight until the road splits into a triangular square. Turn left, direction Auberge de Poteaupré. Cross the RAVeL again, pass a white chapel, ignore the side streets and head towards the forest. When you go out, you are at the Carrefour des Quatre Chemins. Keep left, pass the water tower and a chapel and cross the Oise. It is the main tributary of the Seine and rises on the left, about a kilometre away. At the end of the road, turn right until you start point.