Beautiful Belgian Hike: Charleroi, Between City and Countryside

A BBB in Charleroi?! You are missing a box at Moto 80! Let them talk, let them chuckle, and get ready to follow our tracks to discover a fascinating and contrasting city, the capital of the "Black Country," whose immediate surroundings are surprisingly green.

Let’s start at the beginning and explain how the idea for this BBB, which is different from the others, originated. At the last motorcycle show in Brussels, we stumbled upon Marcel Leroy, a former journalist of Soir and Soir Magazine, whom we know from the glorious (?) times of “Routen des Soir,” the now-defunct supplement “Auto et Mobilité” of the Brussels evening newspaper… This was followed by a lively conversation that, of course, revolved around motorcycles – Marcel has a preference for British machines – but also about travel and especially Charleroi. Yes, Charleroi! Despite Marcel filling his (active) retirement with travels to all corners of the world, particularly to India, he becomes quite lyrical when it comes to the city of Charleroi. “If you read an article by Marcel about Charleroi, you think you will spend your next vacation there,” a colleague recently told us… The wording may be a bit exaggerated, but the fact remains that this man has shown us places where we would have never thought to lay down our tires… For that, we thank him!

A Dive into the City

In Fleurus, the starting point we have chosen because we had to pick up the Mash 125 there (an ideal machine to "explore" such a route…), we immediately dive right into the action. We drive down the aptly named Charleroi Avenue to Gilly… If you are unfamiliar with the area, you will be surprised by the number of transalpine surnames. Garages, restaurants, shops of all kinds, Italy is omnipresent here. Right after World War II and in the 1950s, Italians came to promote the prosperity of Walloon steel production and mines. We will talk about that later.
Be careful in the first kilometers: there are radar points everywhere and many “30 zones.” A turn to the left, another to the right, and we already discover along the road from Basse-Sambre an Airbus A310. What is it doing there? A mystery! “It once hosted a disco, then a restaurant, and is now up for sale,” explains Marcel. “I think it illustrates well the diversity of this city, which doesn’t really have a unity but has constantly adapted to new situations.” With these thoughts, we continue towards Marcinelle, more precisely to number 52 Jules Destrée Street in Marcinelle. Does this address ring a bell? Yes, this is the headquarters of Editions Dupuis. The buildings are painted in the colors of the planet's most famous Grooms, which is only normal! We stop in front of this famous comics place, where Franquin, Jijé, Morris, Peyo, and others Roba have passed, in short, everyone associated with the journal “Spirou” and grouped under the name Marcinelle School… “In its heyday, the printing house was directly opposite, at the current location of Delhaize,” Marcel tells us…
We now set our course south to Bois du Cazier, a mine that became grimly famous due to the disaster that happened there on August 8, 1956: 262 miners from 12 different nationalities lost their lives. Even today, the causes of the tragedy are not clearly established. This may also be the reason, beyond the high number of victims, why this horrible accident remains so deeply anchored in collective memory. Today, Bois du Cazier houses an industrial museum that traces, of course, the history of mining, but also that of the steel industry and mechanical engineering in the land of Charleroi. An exciting visit…

From Black to Green…

Those who are in a hurry to leave the city can now breathe a sigh of relief. Right after leaving Marcinelle, the gray suburb turns green. We pass the former Cité de l’Enfance, a place that once housed an orphanage and is now listed as a historical monument due to the high heritage of this garden city designed by architect Leborgne in 1938. Our path leads us to the famous “M” of Bomerée, on the National Road Charleroi-Beaumont. The place is known for its auto hill climb, and it’s true that you could almost feel like you’re in the mountains for some curves. However, the very dense traffic and the sad state of the asphalt will quickly dampen your enthusiasm. The speed, however, increases…
In Montigny-le-Tilleul, we dive into the Sambre Valley, which is pleasantly green, to reach Landelies via a winding and perfectly asphalted road, would you have believed it? “In this part of the Sambre Valley, many boatmen used to spend their vacations,” comments Marcel. We are just a few gas points away from Aulne Abbey, or rather what remains of it. The terraces invite you to enjoy an ADA, a monastery beer brewed right on site by Brasserie du Val de Sambre with every ray of sunshine. But perhaps it’s wiser to take a few bottles of this excellent product home?
Continuing along the route, the city of Thuin also deserves a stop: for its historic center (bell tower) and its tramway museum, but also for its famous “hanging gardens,” a beautiful collection of terraced gardens that were renovated in 2001, which can only be visited on foot, but which you can admire on your left side in the roadbook as you leave the city towards Ragnies (classified as one of the most beautiful villages in Wallonia).

At Aldino

After a lunch break in Thuillies (see “Pleasure Stops”), we feel like lounging a bit more. The friendly little streets around Marbaix and Ham-sur-Heure allow us to take a deep breath and ride at our own pace. It’s not the Napoleon Road, but it’s still very nice! After this green detour, it’s time to return to the city via Jamioulx (known for its prison…) and Montigny-le-Tilleul. In Mont-sur-Marchienne, you must not miss the extraordinary mining museum set up by Aldino Soloperto, who will explain like no one else how life "in the shaft" was. A hard and dangerous life, which today is often depicted in black (no pun intended…) but which Aldino does not regret. “Wallonia has given me everything; it made me a responsible man,” he has repeated to us several times, with the elegance and cheerfulness that characterize him…
The following kilometers are a dive into the heart of the heavy industry of Charleroi or what remains of it. We pass through Marchienne-au-Pont and Monceau-sur-Sambre. Here, the industry has shaped the landscape: old industrial buildings as far as the eye can see, railways, spoil heaps, now covered with vegetation.… In Dampremy, we even planned a little stop at the foot of one of them. Don’t hesitate to climb to the summit for an extraordinary panoramic view of this city of old industry. After that, nature will take over again: a pleasant little road leads along the canal and brings you close to Roux. The return path takes you through Gosselies before you enjoy a good part of riding pleasure in the curves from Mellet to Fleurus. The loop will close, and your meter will show well over a hundred kilometers more than at the start of the day… Have a good ride!

Pleasure Stops

- To take the aperitif, we more or less randomly chose the bistro-restaurant “Le Cazier” right at the entrance of Bois du Cazier. Fate smiled upon us: excellent welcome from the chef and hostess (the whole sun of Italy), who have much to tell, democratic prices, and a pleasant decor that naturally leaves plenty of room for the memory of the “houyeux”… What more could one ask for?
Le Cazier, 48 rue du Cazier, 6001 Marcinelle. Tel.: 0472/93.10.58

- At mealtime, our friend Marcel, who knows that good food is the beginning of happiness, had planned a stop at La Petite Gayole in the square of Thuillies. We can’t wait to return! This is a restaurant as we love it. It is incredibly cozy, and the menu is generous with “tasty” specialties. We chose a homemade cassoulet, which is highly recommended, and a Morteau sausage with green lentils from Le Puy, which deserves nothing but praise. The icing on the cake is Audrey's smile, who will advise and serve you with as much kindness as efficiency. And to top it all off, the prices remain reasonable, given the quality offered.
La Petite Gayole, 12 place de Thuillies, 6536 Thuillies.
Tel.: 071/95.46.43. www.lapetitegayole.com Open from Thursday to Sunday, lunch and dinner, except Saturday lunchtime. Reservation is highly recommended.