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| Old Stone Chapel near Geraardsbergen |
One of my favorite activities is to ride a bicycle along the Dender River in Belgium, following a paved tow path. The Dender River flows through central Belgium, passing through parts of Hainaut, East Flanders, and Flemish Brabant before it joins the Scheldt at Dendermonde. That much larger river then flows through Antwerp until it enters the North Sea in the Netherlands. The Dender River begins as two different forks in Hainaut; the Western Dender near Leuze-en-Hainaut and the Eastern Dender near the town of Jurbise. These rather small rivers converge at the town Ath, a historic cultural center known for its giants and its Gallo-Roman origins. From there the Dender flows north, passing under the high speed TGV and Eurostar line as it gently flows through the rolling plains and forests of Hainaut and East Flanders, passing through Lessines (Lessen), Geraardsbergen (Grammont), Ninove, and Aalst before it flows into the Scheldt at the town of Dendermonde. The Dender River is navigable from Ath to Dendermonde, although much of the traffic above Aalst is largely recreational.
