Le Tombeau du Géant, or Giant’s Tomb, is possibly the most famous panoramic view in Belgium. The near perfect horseshoe bend in the Semois River lies deep in the glorious Ardennes. The steep valleys and canyons, carved over millennia by the river, cut through heavily forested hills. It is a rugged, forbidding landscape, especially in winter, but ever so beautiful on a warm and sunny spring day.
The ‘tomb’ lies in the Semois Valley National Park. The 28,903 hectare area of southern Belgium, through which the Semois River flows on its 210 km journey from Arlon to the Meuse, hosts one of the richest landscapes in Europe. It is scattered with historic small towns and isolated villages, where regional traditions, folklore and legends continue to shape the Ardennes’ cultural landscape.
One of those legends is of a local ‘giant’, or at least a very tall man for the time. A Gaul who may have been called Treviso and who fought against the Roman conquest of the Ardennes. Defeated, his choices were capture and transportation to Rome as a slave, or death. He flung himself off the heights of Rocher des Gattes into the valley below. Local people are said to have buried him on the hilltop in the bend of the Semois.
The view over Le Tombeau du Géant is every bit as dramatic as the tale of Treviso, and it was my goal on a 20 km circular walk from Bouillon and back again. The weather was unnaturally warm, but the clear blue skies made for ideal hiking conditions on what was a pretty challenging route. The Ardennes is known as the Belgian Alps for a reason. There are no towering snowy peaks, but the repetitive climbs and descents add up.
No more so than the first hill to the Belvédère de Bouillon. This 32 metre high wooden viewing platform is reached by a strenuous climb through dense woodland. When you reach the Belvédère there are another 161 stairs to climb. The views it gives over Bouillon and the vast expanse of the Ardennes beyond is breathtaking. There were a few people at the viewpoint, but I found myself alone for much of the walk.
Curiously, the route took me into areas of rolling farmland between the villages of Curfoz and Sensenruth. The style of the fences and piles of chopped logs placed in fields bore a strong resemblance to farms we’d seen in Argentina. It is truly attractive countryside. I stopped to have a look at the striking Church of Saint-Lambert. The current building is 17th century, but it dates to the 9th century.
I was soon back into dense forest on the way to Botassart, the gateway to The Giant’s Tomb. A sleepy spot with an attractive chapel, at the end of the village I suddenly found myself back in the world. The Giant’s Tomb has a carpark and picnic tables, and there were plenty of people using both. That though does not take away the majesty of this spot. It’s stunning.
Descending a steep track from the panorama, I soon found myself at the bottom of the Semois’s horseshoe where a stream enters the river and creates an open space on the wooded banks. The views are gorgeous. From here there is a very good track alongside the river that eventually took me past Clairefontaine Abbey. There were more people here, but it was still quiet.
The sight of kayakers floating past lured me into the water for a paddle, which also meant getting views down the river that were obscured from the woodland path. It’s no wonder this region is popular with people wanting to escape into nature. The last few kilometres of the route were a repetition of our previous days hike, but arriving back into Bouillon to be greeted by the dramatic castle never tires.
