From the abbey to the marsh around Fontaine-Valmont

Go to the car park of the Fontaine-Valmont train station, in fact nothing more than a stop with an ATM. Pass the Café de la Gare until you reach the church and turn right into Rue de l'Eglise. Dive under the railway tracks and continue cycling to the intersection with the chapel. Take Rue Roger Henock on the right, ignore Rue Emile Vandervelde and Rue Achille Dejean on the left and pass a wall with a crucifix. Then turn left into the street and cross the intersection with the main square and the Café des Sports on your left. Pedal down Paul Pastu Street.

You pass a school and the agglomeration sign of Fontaine-Valmont and you head towards the open landscape. Cross the intersection with the obligatory stop and continue cycling towards Leerset-Fosteau, first between separate buildings and then through the open agricultural landscape. You pass a sturdy white riding school and pedal further along the edge of the forest and a little through the forest. After the forest, you can enjoy a beautiful view on your right. After the Leers-Et-Fosteau agglomeration sign, you cross an intersection (with a dirt road on the right) and drive between separate buildings and pass the church until you reach the N559. Cross it and immediately turn right, rue du Coq d'Aousse, direction Strée. Turn left with the paved road and turn right at the T-junction, still in the direction of Strée. You move from one building to another. If it stops on the right, you get an impressive view from this side.

Then you arrive at a fork with a tree in the middle of the road. On the staff map, it is on a mini triangular square. Turn with the road on the right, ignore the street on the right and continue cycling to the fork at the White House. Straight ahead, the road is dead. Turn left after the Fontaine-Valmont agglomeration sign until you reach the T-junction. On the left goes the dirt road to the Ferme de la Loge. Turn right, through the open landscape, pass a white farm to the T-junction at the edge of the forest. On the right, it is not paved. Turn left, right after the nameplate of La Strée. The Loge wood is written on the road sign. Between agricultural convoys You pedal a little through the forest, then along the edge of the forest and a few houses and turn right at the first intersection in the rue de Thuin. Then take the rue de Thirimont on the left and continue to follow the edge of the forest. Then it continues through an open landscape. At the junction of a farm, you ignore a dead end on the left and at the T-junction, you turn right, after the name sign of Strée. You pedal in the rue Mestriaux. At the fork, it's straight into the dead end, so keep left and continue to follow Rue Mestriaux. You turn with the road to the right and left, pass in front of the end of the agglomeration sign of La Strée and continue straight at the intersection. Ignore a road to the right and turn opposite the white building with the Abbey of Mestriaux above the entrance door on the left into Rue de Thuin. Cycle along the edge of the forest, through the forest and finally through the open landscape and past a few farms to the first quadrangle. Right. You will pass the end of the sign of agglomeration strée, pass in front of the Ferme de Martinpré and the cemetery of Thirimont. At the crossroads with a beautiful white chapel on the left, turn right into Rue du Tombois.

Pass in front of the Thirimont agglomeration sign, ignore a street on the right, cross an intersection and continue by bike to the fifth lane with a chapel on the left. Continue straight on the road, where you will be warned of agricultural convoys. You can immediately descend by a hollow road and enjoy a beautiful panorama at the end. Ignore a dirt road on the left and pass the sign at the end of the Thirimont agglomeration in the open landscape. Ignore another road on the left and climb through the forest and between the fields to the junction with a straight dirt road. Turn left and continue cycling to the N559. You are forced to follow it a little to the right. The traffic isn't too bad and you surprisingly encounter more cyclists than on the quiet roads you've been pedaling on so far. You pass the white private club Only4You, climb through the wood of Fontaine-Valmont and pass a farm on your left. Further on, in front of a farm, turn right, left onto the road for farm traffic. This is the rue de Dansonspenne.

The most beautiful marsh

Winding with the paved road around the Ferme de Dansonspenne, today an equestrian center but in the early twentieth century with 260 hectares one of the largest farms in Belgium. Continue pedaling through the open agricultural landscape and enjoy the 360° panorama. Ignore a dirt road on the right, pass the Fontaine-Valmont agglomeration sign, cross a crossroads and you will return to civilization. Continue the stairs to the N561. Turn left onto Rue Etienne Hazard. You go deep between two impressive farms and keep right at the fork, towards Erquelinnes. You pass even more farm buildings and a dilapidated grape greenhouse. Continue on the N561 and pedal after the end of the Fontaine-Valmont agglomeration sign. Where the main road turns right, direction Erquelinnes, continue straight along the name sign of Hantes-Wihéries.

It now continues on a half-hollow and sometimes completely hollow road between fields. After the Hantes-Wihéries agglomeration sign, you will arrive at a crossroads with the sign called Solre-sur-Sambre right in front of you. On the left corner is an old chapel and further back is the Church of Hantes and the Château Jaumotte. Turn right and a little further with the road on the right. On the left is the Marais de Labuissière, one of the most beautiful marshy areas in Wallonia, although you won't see many of them.

Along the banks of the Sambre

You pass in front of the Labuissière nameplate through the rue des Usines, pass in front of the factory buildings to the center of Labuissière. Turn left, the Sambre and immediately after the weighbridge at lock 2. Around the corner is the Café de l'Ecluse. Take a moment to admire the artwork and see the RAVeL information panel. Then turn right and continue cycling along the banks of the winding Sambre. Dive under the railway bridge and continue following the river. On the right you can see the church of Fontaine-Valmont behind the Sambre.

Pedal again under the railway tracks and under the road bridge. Ignore the path to the bridge and continue to Lock 3. Here too there is an information panel from RAVeL, this time with information about the lock keepers' houses. Turn left onto Rue du Sarty until you reach the railway. Follow it to the left. At the end of the road, you pedal straight and cross the bridge. At the first intersection, turn right, dive under the railway bridge and go around the church to the train station.