Haybes

À Haybes

A - The Haybes brewery Voir sur la carte

A hotel on the banks of the Meuse, bathed in generous sunshine: this is a marvellous spot. The Haybes brewery, which lies alongside it, in the Clos Belle-Rose, brews beer solely for the Saint-Hubert hotel. The production is deliberately limited: “I can’t sell our soul, our know-how, to the mass retail sector”, Julien Dejante points out. The wild hops are gathered along the green path and the water is drawn from springs in the surrounding forest. The beer is natural, simple. Having trained as a sommelier, Julien appreciates the presence of his beer on the tables of the Saint-Hubert. “Beef stew with Hayboise beer or trout meunière pairs perfectly with a beer, releasing all its bitterness”. The brewery makes three types of beer: the Hayboise is amber with a high hops content, the Cerf Blanc is a blonde beer and the Stockport, paying tribute to an English town…

Infos : www.le-clos-belle-rose.com

Did you know?

In August 1914 Haybes was razed to the ground by the Germans: the town was ravaged, martyred. In 1920 an English town, Stockport, helped it to rise again, to rebuild. A hundred years later, the brewery pays fine tribute to this allied town by brewing a beer that bears its name…

À Haybes

B - Haybes-la-Jolie Voir sur la carte

Also known as ‘Haybes-la-Rose’ or ‘Haybes-la-Jolie’, Haybes is a delightful place. The roofs tinted with pink or blue and the charming square in front of the town hall, as well as the nearby forest…. an entire heritage, be it architectural or natural, contributes to the special nature and the beauty of this commune.

À Haybes

C - Walking Voir sur la carte

The slate and legends circuit

Fumay had 50 slate quarries: the mountain looked like a Gruyère cheese. Along the path of legends and slate, the charming Mohron stream cannot erase the memory of what this valley once was. The blue and violet mosaics created by the remains of sheets of slate sparkle at our feet: this starry path leads us to the heart of this story of slate extraction. Just after the schist bridge, a huge, narrow passageway on the bank of the Mohron forms a gaping hole. This is the entrance to a mine. As soon as you enter, the humidity and the cold go right through you. Approaching Haybes, La Platale beauty spot catches the eye. The slag heaps, loaded with black stones, are frozen like petrified monsters.

Tip

Just after the Moulin Labotte hotel and restaurant, the Fond d’Oury gallery lights up as you pass by.

Practical details

Distance: 6 km

Waymarking: red with logo

Difficulty: average

Duration: 2h

Start: From the Maison de la Randonnée in Haybes, follow the road that leads to the Moulin Labotte hotel and restaurant

-> Discover Gps visit

To go further afield

Topo guide, The Ardennes on foot, published by the French Hiking Federation. Walk No 14

Did you know?

On 24 August 1914, the German army crossed Belgium, pushing through the Ardenne and wiping out every pocket of resistance. In Haybes, a massacre occurred: 52 civilians were shot and the martyred city was burnt. The ‘département’ endured four years of occupation.

À Haybes

D - The Maison de la Randonnée Voir sur la carte

A bicycle hire service is available to explore the Meuse valley along the “Trans-Ardennes” green track or follow the many mountain biking circuits in the area.

À Fumay

E - Slate capital Voir sur la carte

Follemprise, Bellerose. Mine names that refer to the slate works, the schist plates which for centuries covered the roofs of houses: grey mirrors of a watery sky. While it made Fumay’s fortune, it also sent its sons, its women and its children down in the hell of the icy waters in the galleries. Their labour, slave labour, meant digging in the schist for 14 hours: in 1971, everything came to a halt…

Tip

The river port, from which the slates left, bound for all four corners of the earth, has now become a pleasant marina with café terraces dotted along the quays.

À Fumay

F - Terraltitude Park Voir sur la carte

Laid out on the site of the old Saint-Joseph slate quarry, this park has a great many activities for thrill seekers. The main attraction is the “fantasticable”, a giant flying fox or zip wire over a kilometre in length which, above the Meuse, can reach a speed of 130 km/h.

Site : www.terraltitude.com

More informations 

À Haybes

G - Reception and tourist information site Voir sur la carte

Office de Tourisme Val d'Ardenne Tourisme

Place du Château

08320 Vireux Wallerand

Tél. : +33 (0)3 24 42 92 42

www.valdardennetourisme.com