Visiting La Roche en Ardennes
When we stayed in the Ardennes with our friends for New Year we killed some time by driving to nearby La Roche.
As stated before, the region is full of reminders of the battle of the Bulge at the end of WWII 75 years ago with the German troops doing a last surprise counterattack through the Ardennes in an attempt to break the lines. There are still tanks as monuments but also pictures showing the destruction of the battles in these towns.
As stated before, the region is full of reminders of the battle of the Bulge at the end of WWII 75 years ago with the German troops doing a last surprise counterattack through the Ardennes in an attempt to break the lines. There are still tanks as monuments but also pictures showing the destruction of the battles in these towns.
Our group split and some friends chose to visit the museum dedicated to the historic battle. The others continued to the ruins of the medieval fortress towering above the little town.
In the castle you can visit the remains of a few courtyards and fortifications, ramparts and towers. On top you get a 360° view of the Ourthe below meandering in a U around the little town and valley. In the summer there's a bar in one of the ancient rooms and falcon shows but it's all rather dead in winter (just before the end of the year). We took 30 minutes for our visit just before closing time and since fog and frost was coming in the evening the cobble stones on the steep road down where all of a sudden scary slippery. Yikes, but we made it down without injuries.
After our visit, we strolled through the main street again and had a snack after which we went to warm up in a pancake restaurant.
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