The "B" towns of the Belgian Ardennes

While my Dad and his wife Cathryn were in town, we made a few excursions to places Carl and I hadn't been before, particularly in the southern regions of Belgium, referred to as the Ardennes. We spent most of our time in two particular towns, Bastogne and Bouillon - hence the post title.

Bastogne was our first stop. This town is famous among World War II buffs as being the center of the December 1944-January 1945 "Battle of the Bulge". Here's the gist of the story: the Nazis, in a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war in Europe, began a large offensive into SE Belgium and Luxembourg, in an attempt to reach Antwerp and split the Allied forces. This incursion created a "bulge" of German forces on the war map, which is where the common name of the battle came from. The battle covered a large region, but much of what has made it famous happened around the town of Bastogne, where the American 101st Airborne found themselves surrounded. Outnumbered, undersupplied and in freezing, snowy conditions, the 101st held off the Nazi assault on the town until the weather cleared and the Allied air forces could attack and drop critical supplies and ammunition. They continued to defend the town, never allowing the Nazis to capture it and take control of the important roads leading through the town into the rest of the region. Elsewhere along the battle lines, fighting raged for nearly a month before the Nazis were finally forced to withdraw. Before that happened however, more than 85,000 troops on each side were either killed, wounded, captured or missing.

The people of Bastogne were incredibly grateful to the American soldiers who protected the town from recapture by the Nazis, and as a result they built the Mardasson Memorial (inaugurated 1950) and later the Bastogne Historical Center (a museum) next to it in 1976. The museum and memorial were both very well done, and it's interesting to walk around the town and see streets, cafés and even menu items named after American commanders. Aside from the history it's also an attractive town in a very pretty area of rolling hills, trees and farmland, as you'll see in one of the photos taken from atop the memorial.

Picture #1: Looking up at the Mardasson Memorial
Picture #2: The view from the Memorial, looking towards the town.


Bouillon was the second town we visited, and it is medieval to the core. It's set is a picturesque valley at a sharp bend in the Semois River very close to the French border, and it's topped by the castle of Godfrey of Bouillon, a medieval knight and a leader of the first Crusade. Interestingly, he actually put the castle into hock in order to finance the Crusade! The first mention of a castle on that spot was in 988, but it is known to have existed much longer than that. We did a self-guided tour of the castle, and it was all you'd expect - old, dark, and creepy, but also beautiful and with some gorgeous views! The town itself is also really charming, though it was definitely crowded on this summer weekend. I'd like to go back another time and perhaps enjoy some of the outdoor attractions of the area, such as hiking and kayaking on the Semois. Anyone interested? :-)

Picture #3: view over the town from the castle
Picture #4: another view of the town, looking in a different direction