Hiking to Tomb of the Giant

After a peaceful night… well… as peaceful as it gets when John has a bad dream and hits out at me!… we woke to a chilly, frosty morning. The sunshine soon melted it though and we’ve had a lovely 13 kilometre hike with some amazing views.

The first main view point was from a tower high on the hillside above Bouillon. It was a steep zig-zagging climb through the woods, but well worth it. We could see for miles over Bouillon, its fortress and the meandering River Semois.

From here, we walked through beautiful woodland and pine forest before dropping back down to the River Semois. It was a bit cool this morning, especially in the shade, but as the sun rose, we removed our layers.

After following this for a while, with its calming babbling, it was time for a really steep climb up to the viewpoint for Tombeau du Géant. There were no zig-zags to ease this climb! It was straight up and my lungs and legs found it tough. I’m out of practice!

It was again worth it for the view over another bend in the river. We read that the legend of the Giant’s Tomb tells of a giant warrior who was among those defeated by Roman legions in a battle. He fled but was cornered on a cliff ledge and, rather than be captured and face the fighting arena in Rome, he jumped to his death into the abyss below. The locals found his body and buried him at the top of the forested hillock overlooking the river.

The walk back to Bertie was easier, back down the steep hill through white trees, then along the river, swollen after a lot of rainfall in the days before we arrived in Belgium. We also enjoyed walking over the chain bridge, although we didn’t need to because it wasn’t on our planned route!

It was lovely to be out relaxing in the sunshine for a few hours. Now we’re on a campsite just outside Luxembourg City, which we plan to visit tomorrow. First… time for a shower!