This morning we are hiking the Forets de Tricointe, a trail that is relatively nearby the apartment and is on our AllTrails app. Parking is easy – always a consideration – and we are on the trail in no time, walking up the hillside and into the forest. It is a lovely walk, punctuated by little animal sightings: a Vole! Not caring on whit that we are standing there watching it!
The path meanders through the forest, weirdly past a house that is obviously occupied (even though there are no vehicles signs posted around) and off through the farmland with the occasional bench placed randomly out of nowhere.
It is fun, and nice and peaceful, for sure, but AllTrails (just like Google Maps) is not always correct, and we end up coming to the end of the trail which empties out onto the a street where there is supposed to be another trail leading away into the forest to create a loop. Hmmmmm.
Retracing our steps, we head back toward the car, knowing at least where we are going, finding more random benches, before turning down a side trail that leads us around in a little loop – through a vineyard of all things – and finally back out to our car.
Nice way to start our day, even if a little AllTrails frustrating! After lunch at the apartment, we strike out through the hinterland in search of the Monaigle Castle ruins perched high up on a ridge at the confluence of the Flavion and the Molignée rivers.
The drive is beautiful, although a little confusing, and always on narrow almost one lane roads, but we eventually find the remains of the medieval fortress and manage to stuff our car into a parallel parking space outside the entrance. Here we meet the most charming man who is manning the ticket counter – awash in detail and information. He gives us an English guide, explaining the details and showing us the map of how to visit, and how to walk down into the Medieval kitchen garden on our return. Such a sweet guy.
Montaigle began as a Roman military fortress in the 3rd Century, expanded during medieval times in the 14th Century and finally turned into a Count’s resident in the 15th Century. The ruins we see are from that period, when the castle was a residence with stairs, cellars, large windows and chimneys. But there are still some remnants of the old, ancient walls remaining. It was set afire and destroyed by the troops of Henry II in 1554 and never rebuilt. The site is managed now by the “Friends of Montaigle,” a professional association staffed by a group of dedicated volunteers who maintain the site – and the small Archaeological Museum on site – today.
Walking up the hill to the ruins, we get our first close up view of the majestic stone walls and towers that still remain. Passing through the narrow entryway – where there was once a drawbridge – we enter into the high court of the castle and begin our explorations of the ruins.
It is a fantastic place to explore with so many different levels and outlines of rooms – the doorman’s house, the stables, the towers, the lords’ apartments. Really absolutely amazing – and one of the best castle ruins we have ever explored.
The views out over the valleys are stunning – it is so wonderful up here, we hate to leave. And we had the place almost all to ourselves – there were only 4 or 5 others up there the entire time. Fantastic.
Walking down the narrow little trail to the kitchen garden is equally wonderful with views back up to the castle on the ridge.
The garden itself is huge – with tons of different flowering plants and vegetables. And the centerpiece of the garden is a huge circular planted garden that turns out to be a sundial! There are stones placed all around with roman numerals indicating the time.
More stunning views up to the castle greet us as we walk back to the museum along the stream/river at the bottom of the valley.
And the museum itself is a small gem! Tons of great information about the castle and its history – along with some great renderings and a model of what the castle looked like in Medieval times.
Awesome visit!
Andiamo 