Intro:
The first half of this hike was playing in a league of its own. The Pays des Collines (Land of the Hills) is shown in all its splendor and one walks from one beautiful view to another. This goes on until reaching the highest point of the hike: the Mont de Mainvault.
The rest of the hike descends into the valley of the river Dender and sadly enough continues exclusively over paved roads. The contrast with the first part cannot be more striking.
Luckily, the end of the hike lead us into the cozy little town of Ath and that was all it took to cheer us up again.
Back and forth:
A train took us from Antwerpen to Gent where we changed for another train to Ronse.
The trip took us one hour more then planned, because due to continuing delays on the line Antwerpen - Gent (on average 15 minutes) we missed the train to Ronse. The railway company certainly has a strange interpretation of customer fidelity ...
In Ronse we boarded TEC bus 89b which took us to the stop at Moulin in a good 10 minutes. Moulin is the starting point of this hike. This bus doesn't make the trip every hour, so you'd better be informed about the schedule.
In Ath we could board an IR train to Antwerpen. A lot of stops, but at least the train stayed on schedule.
The hike:
Soon after the start the GR 129 trail dives into a little wooded valley. The path has been made quite comfortable with plank bridges and steps, indicating that usually this must be a very wet place. However, the long drought has completely dried up the place.
(click the picture to open the album on Picasa)
Somewhat further we're supposed to come to the junction with the GR 123 trail. We hadn't studied our map carefully enough and so we thought we'd already passed that junction. We didn't pay any attention to it and that's why - totally unsuspecting - we simply continued to follow ... the GR 123 trail. We were hiking a beautiful track, fully enjoying the surroundings, quite happy with the presence of the white/red signs. When after a while we decided to have a look at the topoguide we found it difficult to situate ourselves on the map. No problem, we were quite confident to be on the right track, and convinced that a bit later we'd come to a spot we would recognize. That spot was ... Ellezelles. Unfortunately it meant we had been hiking the wrong trail for well over 3 km.! All we could do was hike all the way back and try to find the place where we had missed the GR 129 trail.
7 extra kilometers. Nothing really impossible, but the hike we had planned was 24,4 km. long. That meant we would finally hike well over 30 km. that day, and we were only at the start. At moments like these we tend to embrace each other, have a deep look into the other's eyes, and say "Yes we can!", the difference being that we really have to do it.
Having gotten back to the point where the junction was supposed to be, we still couldn't find the signs we were looking for. For a while we stood wandering around the entrance of a farmhouse, when finally the friendly farmer came out and showed us an old little tilted pole some 10 m. away from the road. The signboards GR 123 and 129 were attached to it, complete with the arrows indicating the right direction. The only problem was that they weren't visible from the road, the pole had been turned around. To make things even more impossible the GR 129 trail didn't follow a clear path from there. It rather was a barely visible trace through a field where normally a hiker wouldn't go. Anyway, we had found the right track.
The next 10 kilometers were fantastic. The walloon Pays des Collines - which is a geographic continuation of the Flemish Ardennes - are a beautiful region. Intimate little wooded valleys alternate with smooth hills offering nice panoramic views. Inevitably this means some going up and down, but the effort is certainly worth it.
This region seems to have had something to do with witches. Centuries ago, the hamlet of Place à l'Aulnoit would have been the scene of a yearly witches sabbath. In french witches are called 'sorcières', but the local dialect calls them 'chorchîles'. In Ellezelles (the village which the hamlet belongs to) they've realized the commercial possibilities, and since 1972 the legend is commemorated each year with a spooky event (in 2011, on June 25th), complete with witches beer and coffee. The more you drink it, the more real it seems. Near the chappel of Sémenil we even walk by what seems to be a witches house.
What struck us along the way is that a lot of effort is put into restoring and maintaining old forgotten country paths. Some of them are part of the GR 129 trail, and they make the trip only more interesting.
We're well halfway our hike when we start climbing the Mont de Mainvault. With its altitude of 136 m. it's the highest point of the hike. At the foot of the 'Mont' (mountain) we cross the Chaussée Brunehaut, a road that dates from the times of the roman empire (it used to connect Bavay to Velzeke). From the top we got nice views on the Pays des Collines we had just left behind us. Before us lies the much flatter landscape of Ath and the Dender valley. The next 10 km. of the GR 129 trail will lead us there.
Until Bouvignies the hike is going through an open agricultural landscape over paved roads. Maybe it's because we were getting tired, but this part of the trail was quite uneventful and boring.
The remaining kilometers from Bouvignies lead us towards the city of Ath. At the old watermill of Bilhée our path joins the river Dender and following its course the white/red signs guide us to the central market square. The city of Ath is a pleasant surprise. There's quite a bit of sightseeing to be done here. The last few years a lot of effort has been put into restoring old buildings and sites. Old and new go along well, there's green spots, cozy little streets with pedestrian passage ways, open spaces and impressive historical buildings. It feels like as if a new wind is blowing here. A nice ending to this hike.
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