Beautiful Belgian ride: 130 km from Dinant to Namur

Autumn has settled in the country. But even though the days are getting shorter, we can still expect some lovely sunny periods. We've taken this opportunity to create a nice little route between Dinant and Namur. On to the last tour of 2018!

Dinant, the starting point of this last trip of the year, is the birthplace of Adolphe Sax – what would music be without this wonderful instrument, the saxophone? – but also the city of the Copères. Do you know where this term comes from?

A legend states that the Burgundians, who paired the Dinantais together during the looting of the city in 1466 to drown them in the Meuse, said “coone paire” (another pair) each time. However, the nickname “copère” could also be a distortion of “compère” or have Germanic origins, as the word “copper” is “koper” in Dutch and “Kupfer” in German. The city is known for its copper processing and its “Dinanderies” are famous far beyond the region.

An additional local curiosity is the “Couque de Dinant,” a very hard biscuit made of honey and flour, which is cast in various shapes (animals, people, floral patterns…). There is a softer variant that is significantly less dangerous for the teeth, called “Couque de Rins”. Dinant is also a city that remembers the painful memory of the cruel massacres of civilians by German troops during the war 14-18.

During the same conflict, a young French officer, Charles de Gaulle, was wounded on the bridge that spans the Meuse in front of the collegiate church. The bridge now bears his name and we will use it to follow the Meuse along the left bank to Hastière, passing Freÿr and its Renaissance castle. The river is shrouded in mist, but the sun will soon break through: The spectacle is grand!

Discover the rest of your BBB in the Moto80 of November!