Namur

I am pretty sure this is Namur... It does all sort of run together because it is hard to find distinctive ways to associate the unfamiliar names with the various places we saw that week. Here we have a massive castle and fortress looming over the city. We could have hiked up to the castle and climbed the steps to see the view from the walls or the towers, but none of us felt strongly compelled. We all opted for a close up view of the city and a nice dinner. Our dinner was Turkish donner sandwiches, delicious!

We were on the river Meuse and it joined another smaller river here. We crossed this river to get to the town.
It seems each town we saw a a couple buildings in this stunning color. This is painted, with lighter bricks around the windows, and a slate roof.
This picture from the bridge shows how the buildings are all joined together along the quay.
I think this is a government building, build on the town square.
You can see old and older, side by side.
Around the town square were many shops and restaurants.
Here is a sculpture of a local joke. The French in Belgium are known for being slow moving and lazy. The man with the snail on the leash asks the man with the snail in the cage why the snail is in the cage. He answers, "If I let him out, he will run away and I would have to chase him!"
The areas we visited in Belgium were French speaking, and few people spoke English. We said, 'Merci' but that was it. Once we crossed the line back into Holland, most people spoke very good English. One great advantage that the Dutch have is that they do not dub any movies, but use Dutch sub-titles instead, so most people have grown up hearing English spoken with an immediate translation provided. Very smart!
Because of all the wars fought in this area, buildings were built and rebuilt in different centuries and there are so many different styles.
Here you see how the streets are narrow, with stone paving from building to building and gutters running down the middle.
Yep, we really were there...

My first impression of the sign below was that it was an advertisement for hearing aids, but it may be for something else. Very clever and eye-catching, eh?
Again, old and older, styles all mixed together. It really was a lovely old city!