Namur Day Trip with the Flatmates!

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Before my great big Baltic Adventure there was a day trip to Namur, it seems ages ago but I never had the chance to write about it here. It was the Saturday morning before my flight and I was sitting at my flat having coffee and breakfast with my flatmates. I knew that Madeline and Rickard were off to Namur for the day, partly because it would allow them to finally catch a train from the Gare de Brussels-Schuman near our house, and also to use up the last of Mads’ Belgium rail card. Namur is a city in southern Belgium which is called Waloonia, it is inhabited by French-speaking Belgians which are distinct from the Dutch speaking Belgians in northern Flanders. Generally the Dutch Belgians are more well-to-do than the Southern Waloonians, and so we were all suspicious that Namur would be run-down and dirty. However Namur is the capital of Waloonia so we were pleasantly surprised.

We caught the train near our house and travelled South. The first thing that struck us is how modern the train station appeared, with its steel catwalks and glass elevator, it seemed quite of place for Belgium. Like many old European towns, Namur has its old buildings and narrow streets. It’s a sunny day so we stop to lunch at a resteraunt called “Maman’s” with a restaurant named “Pappa’s” just opposite. We sit outside and I order what the Brits would call a “Jacket Potato”, but in England this usually entails a baked potato sliced with a filler such as cheese or chilli. I was charmed when I was presented a hollowed out bake potato filled with diced chicken cooked in a dijon mustard, topped with whipped potatoes, which was re-baked to brown the top, along with a nice salad J

We walk along the river canal (the Meuse) to see the main attraction of Namur, a medieval era citadel built atop the hill. The Citadel had seen many battles (including a 3 day battle against advancing German troops in WW2). After climbing up the stairs and long ramps I could immediately sympathize with every poor French/Spanish/German/Belgian bugger in uniform who was tasked with charging up to the walls while being fired at from above.

We walk around the Citadel past its draw bridge and up to the top where a former residence is now a perfume house. A small tourist train-bus carts people about through the tunnels and roads on the top. We take in the view and some photos before walking back through the town to return to Brussels.