The sun rose early (as it does all over Europe in the summer) and woke us up around 7:30 am. With an open schedule for the day and no required logistics to deal with, we resisted the urge to get moving and lazed around until 9 before heading down to breakfast. A leisurely breakfast in the B&B of mostly “breads and spreads” had us ready to explore for the day late in the morning.
Along the way to the bridge, we passed by a group of cyclists.
Once across the bridge into the main section of Dinant we bought tickets for the cable car to the Citadel at the top of the cliff. There also happened to be a Disneyland sand exhibit so we splurged and got tickets for that as well. Once in the Citadel we looked around some, but most of the areas were chained off. Soon we realized we needed to go on the guided tour to get full access, which included the overlook. After waiting around for the bottom of the hour we joined a tour entirely in French. Luckily there were some signs along the way with little tidbits in English so we were able to pick up on some of what we were seeing. Once the tour passed the overlook section of the Citadel though, Susan and I escaped having gotten what we came for…the views.
Odd cartoon-y set up in the Citadel & Our François tour group 
The view from the top! 
Us at the top
The next order of business was the Disney sand exhibit. It was in the lower levels of the citadel and was basically 4 chambers with about 10 sand sculptures each representing different Disney characters and places. All the while, Disney music was being piped in the whole area. It was splendid, and the sand sculptures were very impressive. Leaving this exhibit we decided to walk the 400+ steep stairs back to town. They were formidable so we were glad we chose the cable car up.
Susan with Walt and Mickey & Jeff with King Louie 
408 steps?? 
Our more efficient ride up
Back in town our stomachs were growling so it was time for lunch. We stopped at a small kebab takeaway and grabbed a wrap and pita and wandered to the river to eat alongside the Meuse. Lunch completed, our next destination was the town bike shop to rent some bikes for a couple hours. We tooled around along the riverside north and south of town before some clouds rolled in and it began to rain a bit. That seemed like as good a time as any to return the bikes. The remainder of the time waiting for the rain to pass was spent ducking in a couple shops around town.
Jeff riding along the river 
View from the bike
Susan at the bike shop
Once the sun came out again, Susan and I re-crossed the river and climbed the opposite hillside to the Grottos de Marveleuse (a small cave). The cave tour was about an hour long and the guide gave it in three languages…it was an impressive display. The caves were also nice, but kind of chilly at around 50 degrees.
Checking out the caves
Back above the earth’s surface we returned to the hostel for some relaxation and planning of the next few days before dinner. Then we went back into town for dinner at Café Leffe. It’s named for the Leffe abbey (of beer brewing fame) which is actually located in the city limits of Dinant. Unfortunately they are undergoing renovations so are not having daily tours right now. While at dinner we caught the first half of the Euro Cup final, but it didn’t appear to be much of a game so we decided to forego staying for the second half.
Having some Leffes at Café Leffe
Tomorrow we will have another leisurely morning before moving on from Dinant. Our experience here, although brief, was very nice and a good break from all the big cities.
Leffe Brun - a great beer, The first belgian beer I ever had when we visited in 1999. I'm envious.
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