Page 233 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg
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EASTERN  W ALL ONIA      231

       a St-Hubert                             is the Musée de la Vie Rurale en
                                               Wallonie (Museum of Rural Life
       25 km (16 miles) SW of La Roche.
       Road Map E4. * 5,700. @                 in Wallonia), also called the
       n Rue Saint-Gilles 12; (061) 613010.    Musée Plein Air (Open Air
       _ Journées Internationales de la        Museum). This has some 50
       Chasse et de la Nature (1st weekend     rural buildings from the
       of Sep). ∑ saint-hubert-tourisme.be     19th century, rescued from all
                                               over Wallonia. Many have been
       Greatly venerated during the            fully restored, with interiors
       Middle Ages, St Hubert was an           containing authentic furniture
       8th-century bishop of Tongeren-         and domestic items. A team of
       Maastricht and successor to St          animators on site demonstrate
       Lambert (see p220). According to        rural activities and crafts.
       legend, he was converted to
       Christianity as a young man after
       encountering a stag with the            d Redu
       image of a crucifix between its         17 km (11 miles) W of St-Hubert.
       antlers. Upon his death, St Hubert   The mighty organ of the 16th-century  Road Map D4. Tel (061) 656699.
       became the patron saint of   Basilique St-Hubert  * 500. @ n Maison du Tourisme
       hunting and the stag became             du Pays de la Haute-Lesse, Place de
       his emblem. In the 9th century,   s Fourneau   l’Esro 63, Redu-Libin. ∑ haute-lesse-
       the saint’s relics were brought   St-Michel   tourisme.be
       to a Benedictine abbey in the
       present-day Belgian town of   8 km (5 miles) N of St-Hubert.    Often nicknamed Belgium’s Hay-
       St-Hubert, which became a   Road Map E4. Tel (084) 210890. @    on-Wye, in reference to the town
       pilgrimage site for hunters. The   Open Mar–Jun & Sep–Nov: 9:30am–   of books that developed in
       monks here are said to have dev-   5pm Tue–Sun; Jul & Aug: 9:30am–   Wales in the 1960s, Redu is above
       eloped the blood-hound breed   5:30pm daily; Dec–Feb : access to the   all a book village. It has some 20
                           grounds only. & 0
       called the St Hubert Hound.  ∑ fourneausaint michel.be  bookshops selling new and used
         The abbey was rebuilt in              books, as well as workshops for
       1729, but suppressed in the   The word fourneau literally   papermaking, printing, engraving
       1790s. However, its large   means furnace, and the   and other crafts. This tradition
       church, the Basilique   aptly named community   was founded in 1984 by Liège-
       St-Hubert, remains the   of Fourneau St-Michel   born writer Noël Anselot (b.1924),
       centrepiece of the town.   was involved in a   who was directly inspired by the
       Its Baroque façade       flourishing iron-   example of Hay-on-Wye.
       (1700–1702), crested      smelting business in
       by twin domes,            the 17th and 18th   Environs
       fronts an impressive      centuries. Scattered    The Euro Space Center at
       late-Gothic interior      in a beautiful forest   Transinne, 6 km (4 miles) to
       (1526–64). This is a   Industrial relic at   clearing here are two   the east, is a family-oriented
       focal point of Journées   Fourneau St-Michel  rewarding museums   museum on space exploration.
       Internationales de la     revealing local life in
       Chasse et de la Nature, the   the past. A rare surviving high   E Euro Space Center
       festival of hunting, which also   furnace from the 18th century   Rue Devant les Hêtres 1, Transinne.
       holds a costumed procession.  and forge workshops, set up by   Tel (061) 656465. Open late Mar–Jun:
         The Centre Pierre-Joseph   the last abbot of St-Hubert,   10am–4pm Tue–Sun (& weekends in
       Redouté presents a collection   form the crux of the Musée du   Mar); Jul & Aug: 10am–5pm daily. &
       of exquisite watercolours by the   Fer (Museum of Iron). Close by   9 0 = ∑ eurospacecenter.be
       celebrated flower artist Pierre-
       Joseph Redouté (1759–1840).
       The artist was born in St-Hubert
       but moved to Paris, where he
       was appointed to the court of
       Marie-Antoinette.
       P Basilique St-Hubert
       Place de l’Abbaye. Tel (061) 612388.
       Open daily. 7
       E Centre Pierre-Joseph Redouté
       Rue Redouté 11. Tel (061) 611467.
       Open Jul–Aug: 1–5pm daily; Sep–Jun:
       by reservation. ∑ musee-pierre-
       joseph-redoute.be   Full-size replica of a shuttle at the Euro Space Center, Transinne




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