Oh Dinant! You will always be one of our favorite treasures. We tried to convince the family at the grocery store to bypass Brugge for you but I am sure they did not. They missed out for sure.  Dinant almost did not happen again for us, but we were determined.  We opted to rent a car and drive there being that it was supposed to be faster than the train. Thanks to rome2rio.com, that was not the case.  We took the metro to the train station and walked a few blocks to a Sixt car rental agency. They had but only one car available, a really nice BMW that would be about $190 for the day…..Errrrrrummmmmm. Pass.  We found an Avis and walked 17 minutes to them and they had a car for us so we could get this show on the road. We piled in the car and then as we hit traffic towards Brussels realized that our idea was a huge FAIL! We should have just taken the train. The traffic was at a stand still and the kids were getting restless. We finally arrived at our beloved Dinant around noon. We popped into to Café Leffe as we did before a few years earlier for a Leffe and to use their restrooms.  From there we crossed the street to the Notre Dame. We were the only ones in there. It is amazing to think that this beautiful church survived WWI and the battle that was fought here. It was so quiet and undisturbed. The kids were getting anxious so we decided to head up to the Citadelle at the top of the valley.

The kids were excited to ride the steep funicular to the top of the Citadel. It was interesting for us to see that the kids did not really remember this place. It is a place that is hard to forget but I am sure they will remember it now that they are older. It was where WWI kicked off with the Germans and the museum did a great job of capturing this battle of more than 100 years ago. Actually, the last time we came with the kids was the 100 year anniversary of the battle.  Sienna and Mylan had a better understanding of what happened here. I know they are young but we want them to understand history and appreciate it.  Mylan had and still has lots of questions about it of course.  We finished up on a lighter note with the amazing park at the top of the citadel with the best playground EVER! It had a zip line, a Spartan course, a café, great views of the valley below, an airplane and old cannons for them to play with.  We enjoyed a Leffe while the kids ran their Spartan course and zip lined for the next hour.  From there we walked down and across bridge up to the Maison Leffe.  It wasn’t as rosy as it was a few years ago but it was still a good time. Instead of the kids having a trampoline to jump on they got to play with a neighbors kitten and we got to enjoy our Leffe’s with a view of the valley and the citadel.  The last time we were here they had an amazing lunch but this time lunch was not to be offered. We walked down and across the bridge back to Café Leffe Dinant, where we started, and had a lunch over the river before we headed back. Of course the traffic was hell but we finally made it.  Dinant was worth the traffic and drive. It will always be worth the trip.