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If you're looking for a fairytale city in Belgium that's a hidden gem, look no further than Dinant.

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In Belgium's Ardennes, a lush area of rolling hills and forests that you may have heard about from

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its history as a battleground during World War I and World War II.

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Along the banks of the Meuse River and marked by a grand 13th century Gothic cathedral

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and an imposing high cliff atop which rests the citadel, Dinant could be called European dreamy.

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The small city located in French speaking, Wallonia, is worth a visit for lovers of music,

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whimsy, and those who want to explore in an active way. We're visiting the home of Adolphe Sacks,

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the creator of the saxophone, a museum that takes everyday objects and makes them into

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whimsical musical instruments for unique gem sessions. Who creates these?

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The creator is Max Vandervorst, he's a man who makes shows and music with a strange

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instrument. We're going kayaking to a castle on an adventure that involves just a few

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rapids and a little hail. Spot makes good people. Yeah, makes you hungry.

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This episode of the Travels with Darley Podcast in Belgium.

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I like to find hidden gems, places that fly under the radar or haven't even made it into the realm of

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radar. And I like to try things that various travelers might want to experience when they explore,

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which is why so often when I film my long-running PBS and streaming series Travels with Darley,

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look for it! I like to combine adventure culture history and a whole lot of food and drinks with

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locals as my guides. Someone's got to do that first-hand research, so I'm excited to give you an

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introduction to a place you may have heard nothing about. Dinant Belgium. When I first came to the banks

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of the Meuse River in Dinant, I was taken aback. The Meuse River cuts the city in two and looking

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across the river, there's a large outcropping of rocks, a top which sits in this imposing citadel,

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below the citadel a large cathedral with a unique onion dome, rises high above colorful buildings,

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lining the quiet river. The citadel has been destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries,

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and seen many area battles, including in the 15th century by the Duke of Burgundy,

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and into World War I and World War II. Today at houses of museum worth a visit,

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but your orientation may be best by getting up high on the citadel's viewing platform,

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to take in panoramic views of the valley. You can climb the 16th century staircase

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or take a cable car. With 408 historic stairs and us carrying our film equipment, we opt for the cable car.

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Back down below, this is a walkable city for those who like music and jazz. Stroll over to 37

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Rue Sachs, the birthplace of Adophe Sachs, the inventor of the Sachsophone. A small interactive museum

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has been erected here, sharing information about Adolphe's birth in 1814, his later life,

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and road to inventing the Saxophone in the early 1840s. Adolphe Sax grew up playing the flute

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and clarinet in a musical family. He also sang. In the museum, I also learned about his family.

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His father made musical instruments. The museum is free to visit, and if you're lucky,

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as I was on my trip, a Sax enthusiast might be playing outside in Saxs' honor.

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All around, there are tributes to Sax, including large colorful sculptures of Saxophones

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lining the historic bridge that connects the two sides of the Meuse River. In a city so attuned

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with music history, it's no wonder that you can find one of the most unusual places I've visited

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on my travels. For lovers of music and creativity, in this multi-level space, called the House of

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Pataphony, you can expand your mind making music with everyday objects and recycled materials.

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This is a state of Pataphonie and we make here music with strange instruments,

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like this one. We will play a little song for you if you want.

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This wildly inventive place was dreamed up by instrument maker Max Vandervorst,

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and it's great for adults and kids. I enter a room where two docents are using spare tires, pipes,

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silverware keys, and other found goods to play music.

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Hey! Awesome! Yeah, there's so many things in here, I don't even know what to try first.

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I give you that, perhaps this lullaby? It's a lullaby. Yeah, it's a French one.

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The two offer to play me a lullaby, with what looks like a makeshift pinball machine.

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Interesting. This is so creative.

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So you got a bicycle pump? Using a tire pump, a ball is shot up into a pipe and ricochets down through

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old plastic bottles and pipes. To make for one of the most interesting lullabies I have heard.

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I love it. It's called la melodie Who creates these? The creator is Max Vandervorst.

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He's a man who makes shows and music with a strange instruments like this one.

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This museum is really to get you thinking in a different way. Yeah, and hearing some different sounds

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to see different instruments, you know, we can try to play. We want to play something. Sure, yeah, yeah, why not?

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My guides continue to serenade me with a song before letting me play along too.

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It's like jazz, you're like, we kind of try to jive in and out together. It's improvisation.

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So what do we get to name our band? Oh, apparently the amazing pataphonie.

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But you guys already have a band, so I don't know if I'm up to joining just yet, but you know,

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give me a little more time here. Yeah, okay. And you have another horseback riding, mountain biking,

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climbing and kayaking are all popular activities in the Ardennes. Not far from the city center,

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I'm taking to the water on the nearby Lesse with Olivier Pitance who runs an adventure company

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which was started as small family business by his parents and has grown. I'm not an expert kayaker,

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but Olivier is going to join us for this trip. I do a lot of adventure activities, I'm always

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explicit about my level of fitness. And I usually downgrade my abilities when we're filming because

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it's kind of difficult to film and also do an activity. We've been filming this series for a while,

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but we know once we get out on a water activity, sometimes there's no turning back, especially when

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you're heading down a river. But I'm assured by Olivier that this activity will be tame. So we're going

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out in kayaks and Greg and my camera assistant, they'll be in their own canoe. Pateling was some very

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expensive film equipment that we don't want to submerge in water. This can make filming a bit of

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a challenge, especially when none of us are experts, but most especially when the weather takes a turn.

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We're heading down this gorgeous, less river. It's quiet, it's peaceful. Most of the trip

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we're relaxing, floating, chatting, trying to get the filming in, but then we have the misfortune

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of being caught in a hailstorm. Well, you can certainly have all four seasons in one day here.

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Fourcing us to paddle hard to find temporary shelter. Got a little white water down here.

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It's very natural river. So then you can be right and if it's raining, the level of the water can

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be higher of one meter. Is there anywhere I should avoid? That should I avoid that? You have to pedal

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right to go left. Okay, our goal had been to reach this Gothic revival castle. Walzon castle. It's

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one of the largest castles in Belgium and it's been made famous in the past by drawings by Victor Hugo.

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After braving the elements and waiting for a bit of time along the side of the river and getting

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cold and wet, being pummeled by hail, it's a bit of a lot to continue down, but we make it

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and from the distance I can see this 13th century castle. It's dramatically perched atop a large

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rocky outcropping alongside the river. It's a little bit of a game of thrones feel here.

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I'm surprised at this point that my camera crew still hasn't turned over in the water because they've

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had a few instances and the tensions are running a little bit high with our crew. But Greg, my director

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of photography, he's quite balanced. He's been skiing with limpy and johnny moseley and filmed

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walskiing backwards. He's been on horseback in the Canadian Rockies with a camera and brave glaciers

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in Iceland. But this next challenge on the river here in Belgium, where two dams collided the

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base of the castle. Spot makes good people. Yeah, makes you hungry.

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It gets a little hairy for a saw.

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And the same place than me. Oh, we're going down there.

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But we push on from the final challenge, because we kind of have to at this point,

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we're going down an area of rapids which sends my kayak sideways and I almost paddle, paddle,

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over, but I stay afloat. Not for beginners.

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You're testing me out today, Olivia. My baseball cap shields me from the mist and the sprinkles of

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more rain. And I look up to see one of the prettiest castles I've ever seen.

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Now this is a castle that's hard to see other ways because it is privately owned. So being on the

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river is one of the best ways to see it. And I would recommend this adventure. It's definitely worth it.

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All right. It's just another adventure. I'm glad to share going off the beaten path to discover

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inspiration in an area not so well known to so many travelers. But one that can expand your mind

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and your muscles. It's the Travels with Darley Podcasts and TV series. And if you haven't already,

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please also follow me here and on social media @DarleyNewman on all the platforms and @travelswithdarley on

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Facebook. I post in real time for my travels where we're out now filming and recording new content

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with this podcast in my TV series. And if you have somewhere you want to learn about out there in the

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world, please let me know because I want to discover it too.