Every year the small Wallonian town of Binche bursts into life as it celebrates carnival with three days of non-stop partying. The festivities feature some of Belgium’s most bizarrely costumed carnival characters. This includes the Gilles who wear ostrich feather headdresses inspired, legend has it, by the Incas, and first introduced to the town for the visit of Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, in 1549. As King of Spain, Charles ruled over the former Inca Empire and modern day Belgium.
The story about the Inca-inspired costumes may be fiction, but the importance of this story is the revelation that the most powerful man in Europe – Charles wasn’t just the Holy Roman Emperor but also King of Spain, King of Germany, King of Italy, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy – made a special trip to what is today a sleepy backwater outside of carnival.
In the 16th century, Binche and the Province of Hainault, were at the heart of a power struggle between the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Charles travelled to Binche to visit his sister, Mary of Hungary, whom he had made Governess of the Netherlands (which included Belgium). This was her favourite place. A few years after his visit, Charles was at war with King Henri II of France. The French border is only a short distance from Binche.
In 1552, Mary sided with her brother and decided to destroy Henri II’s favourite residence, Folembray Castle. Henri II returned the favour a few years later, attacking and sacking Binche. He also burned Mary’s palace to the ground. Binche never really recovered its importance, sinking into a long slow decline and relative obscurity. That’s all the better for visiting as not only is it an historic town, it is surrounded by lovely countryside.
Binche sits in the heart of Belgium beer country. While you don’t have to travel far from Binche’s small but pretty Grand Place to be on the doorstep of some of Belgium’s most famous beer producing abbeys (think Chimay, Maredsous), just a few kilometres to the south lies the early 12th century Abbaye Notre Dame De Bonne-Espérance. Not well known even in Belgium, it produces delicious beers.
I’d been looking for information on cycle routes and came across the RAVeL, a network of Wallonian cycle and walking routes that cover around 1,500 km. Its well maintained and easily navigated paths are one of the few places where Belgium’s homicidal drivers can’t go, although I’m certain plenty would try if they thought it would cut 30 seconds off their travel time. The path I left Binche on had once been a railway line.
I followed the arrow-straight route between shady trees accompanied by bird song and the occasional butterfly. It was incredibly peaceful, but the old track was below the level of the banks on either side and I couldn’t see the countryside I was passing through. My map showed some local walking routes and these took me on dirt tracks through fields and past villages. I barely saw another human for a couple of hours.
Some of the tracks I found myself on were sunken several feet below the fields, it felt like ambling down a verdant trench. In the distance, rising up over the flat landscape, the Abbaye Notre Dame De Bonne-Espérance is a magnificent sight. I passed by and returned a few hours later for a well deserved beer. Founded in 1130, the Abbey had immense land holdings and was very wealthy.
Like most abbeys it was closed down during the French Revolution, but returned to the church after the defeat of Napoleon. Luckily it survived any wide scale destruction and remains a beautiful ensemble of historic buildings. Today, it is a school but still has a brewery associated with it, the Brasserie La Binchoise. The beers it makes are certified Belgian abbey beers, and I can confirm they are delicious.
