BELGIUM & FRANCE.
Via Scaldea (Ghent to Saint-Quentin).
03/Jul/2025 onwards.
.jpg) |
The Via Scaldea, drawn in blue color.
a 9 days - 220km pilgrimage hike
from Ghent to Saint-Quentin.
|
DAY 1.
From Ghent to Merelbeke, 03/Jul/2025, 13.9km, 2h50.(Hiked in the opposite direction).
 |
| Ghent, waymarking at the Saint James church. |
 |
| Ghent, Mural "The Rail Gang". |
 |
| Ghent. |
 |
Ghent, "De Loreleie",
illegaly installed statue (2014). |
 |
| Ghent, former workers alley. |
 |
Ghent, Huize de Groote,
Lousbergskaai. |
 |
| Ghent, admirable facades. |
 |
Ghent, "Keizerpoort" bridge
for pedestrians and slow trafic. |
 |
| The "Nederschelde" at the Keizerpoort. |
 |
| The Scheldt. |
 |
| Verlorenbrood vijver. |
 |
| Verlorenbrood pad. |
 |
Merelbeke, tide locks at the merge of
the Ring Canal with the river Scheldt. |
|---| Home
DAY 2.
From Merelbeke to Oudenaarde, 04/Jul/2025, 26.9km, 7h00 including stops.
 |
Merelbeke,
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Smarten chapel. |
 |
| Merelbeke, Kwenenbos, Sint Elooiskapel. |
 |
| Reaching Gavere. along the "Betje Trompet" path. |
 |
| Gavere, fountain (1781). |
 |
| Gavere, a welcome refreshment at Bistro "Iris". |
 |
| Gavere, Market Square and Tourisme Office. |
 |
Reaching the "Flemish Ardennes",
a Hillier landscape. |
 |
| De Kaaihoeve. |
 |
| Along an old arm of the straightened Scheldt. |
 |
| Dike Path along the Scheldt. |
 |
| Picnic along the banks of the Scheldt. |
 |
| De Rijtmeersen. |
 |
| De Rijtmeersen. |
 |
| Reaching the city of Oudenaarde. |
Oudenaarde.
 |
| Oudenaarde, Brewery Liefmans. |
 |
| Oudenaarde, famous grain mill. |
 |
| Oudenaarde. |
 |
| Oudenaarde, Town Hall. |
 |
Omer Vander Ghinste "Traditional Blond"
(local beer from nearby Kortrijk). |
 |
| Oudenaarde, train station. |
Transportation:
---- Car-dropped from Ghent to Merelbeke.
---- Train from Oudenaarde to Ghent.
|---| Home, Ghent.
DAY 3.
From Oudenaarde to Avelgem, 11/Nov/2025 (4 months after DAY 2), 20.8km.
 |
| Saint Walburga church. |
 |
Oudenaarde,
celebration of the armistice of World Wars I & II. |
 |
| Oudenaarde, the beguinage. |
 |
| Oudenaarde, drawbridge over the river Scheldt. |
 |
| Oudenaarde, 't Spei nature reserve. |
 |
| Melden, Saint-James chapel, 1830. |
 |
| Melden, Saint-Martin's church. |
Avelgem.
 |
| Avelgem, bus station. |
Transportation:
---- Train from Ghent to Oudenaarde, 9:57-10:25.
---- Bus from Avelgem to Waregem, 14:37- 15:20.
---- Train from Waregem to Ghent, 15:30-15:51.
|---| Home (Ghent).
From Avelgem to Tournai [24], Thursday 06/Aug/2026 (9 months after DAY 3), 25.8km, 5h40 incl stops.
 |
Taking the train to Oudenaarde,
then the bus to Avelgem. |
 |
Stainless steel silos,
looking like organ pipes.
|
 |
"Guldenspoor Pad",
along an old railway line. |
 |
Reaching the "Ijzerweg" cycling bridge,
linking Flanders with Wallonia. |
 |
Crossing the river Scheldt.
Left Wallonia, Right Flanders. |
 |
| Walking on Walloon side. |
 |
| "Pottes" bridge |
 |
On the other side of the river
the "Bossuit-Kortrijk" canal. |
 |
| Fields with harvested flax. |
 |
| "Hérinnes" lock. |
 |
| Merge with the Via Brugensis. |
 |
On the other side of the river
the "Spiere" canal. |
 |
Today's picnic spot
along an old meander. |
 |
Near Esquelmes the path briefly
leaves the towpad.
At restaurant L'Escanguilles,
first opportunity to get a cool drink. |
 |
Esquelmes holds one of the oldest
Roman churches of Belgium. |
 |
Back on the towpad
along the river Scheldt. |
Tournai.
 |
Tournai, the "Bridge of the Holes",
a 13th century water gate. |
 |
Scallop shell symbols guide
the pilgrim throughout the city. |
 |
Tournai, Saint James church,
secondary altar altarpiece.
|
 |
| Tournai, Grand' Place. |
 |
Second cool beer of the day,
at "Le Dé Botté". |
 |
Our Lady cathedral,
the portico at the Place de Evêché. |
 |
| Our Lady cathedral. |
 |
| At the hotel. |
Transportation:
---- Train from Gent-Sint-Pieters to Oudenaarde, 07:57-08:27, 3.40€.
---- Bus from Oudenaarde to Avelgem, 08:36-09:06.
|---| Hotel Hemera, hotel room, Tournai, 88.94€.
DAY 5.
From Tournai to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux [27], Friday 07/Aug/2026, 24.4km.
 |
| Tournai, the belfry. |
 |
| Tournai, the belfry. |
 |
| Memorial to PJ Warichez. |
 |
'Village libérée par l'armée Américaine
2nd of September 1944"
|
 |
| Path along the Scarpe river. |
 |
| Fish bypass stairway. |
 |
| Automated lock on the canalised Scarpe river. |
 |
| Picnic spot along the canalised Scarpe. |
 |
"Woman is the future of man".
|
 |
| Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, the abbey tower. |
 |
Vestige of the former Benedictine abbey
destroyed during the Revolution. |
|---| Sure Hotel, hotel room, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, 67.37€.
DAY6.
From Saint Amand-les-Eaux to Denain [30] and Valenciennes, Saturday 08/Aug/2026, 20.5km.
 |
Casemate and war memorial
at the square du souvenir. |
 |
Entering the huge forest
"Forêt de Raismes". |
 |
| "Mare à Goriaux". |
 |
| "Fosse d'Arenberg". |
 |
| Miners housing. |
 |
Follows kilometres on an unshaded
cobblestone road towards Denain. |
Denain.
 |
| Denain, the theatre. |
 |
Denain, Sainte Renfoie fountain,
reputed to cure the blind. |
 |
Denain, awaiting the tram for
the overnight at Valenciennes. |
Valenciennes.
(overnight in nearby Valenciennes, reached by tram).
 |
Town Hall of Valenciennes
on the Place des Armes. |
 |
On the site of the belfry collapsed in 1840,
a 45-meter-high spire "Valenciennes". |
 |
| A wooden house. |
|---| Grand Hotel de Valenciennes, hotel room, 55€.
DAY 7.
From Denain to Cambrai [34], Sunday 09/Aug/2026, 26.2km.
 |
Waiting 50 minutes for the
tram to Denain. |
 |
| Tram ride to Denain. |
 |
Denain, watermill
Moulin d'Oisy. |
 |
| Leaving Denain. |
 |
| Bouchain. |
 |
| Branch with the Canal de la Sensée. |
 |
The trail leaves the Scheldt
for a while along the vast fields |
 |
Near to Thun-l'Evêque, and
bar le Sainte-Claude (lunch). |
 |
| Escaudoeuvres, public fishing ponds. |
 |
Entering Cambrai through
the "Porte de Notre Dame". |
 |
Town hall of Cambrai
with a Greek-style facade. |
 |
The Belfry of Cambrai,
formerly the bell tower of a church. |
 |
The Spanish House, now Tourist Office.
A wood clad house dating from 1595. |
 |
Hiding from the rain with a
Picon Bière, still 100m to the hotel. |
|---| Le Mouton Blanc, hotel room, Cambrai, 100€.
DAY 8.
From Cambrai to Gouy/Le-Catelet [38], Monday 10/Aug/2026, 28.3km.
 |
| Cambrai, the Jesuite's chapel. |
 |
Leaving Cambrai
through the "Porte de Paris". |
 |
| Echauguette de l'abbaye de Vaucelles. |
 |
| River Scheldt, reduced to a brook. |
 |
| Hameau de Vaucelles, 10:30. |
 |
| Ecluse Bantouzelle, 11:00. |
 |
Honnecourt-sur-Escaut, during lunch.
War memorial undergoing restauration. |
 |
"Grotte d'Honnecourt" (1935),
Lourdes grotto replica in gratitude for graces.
|
 |
| Reaching Vendhuile along the cemetary. |
 |
| Near sunset at the B&B. |
|---| L'Annexe, B&B, Gouy/Le-Catelet, 66.95€.
DAY 9.
From Gouy/Le-Catelet to Saint-Quentin [41], Tuesday 11/Aug/2026, 24.6km.
For logistic reasons (food), the journey of today differs from the official Via Scaldea path.
From Gouy I went to the spring of the Scheldt, then Bellycourt (shop), Riqueval, and along the canal to Bellenglise and Lahaucourt, then joining the Via Scaldea.
 |
| Leaving Gouy at sunrise. |
 |
| At the spring of the river Scheldt. |
 |
Cupid with Dolphin statue, here "On Loan"
from the city of Antwerp (Scheldt Estuary). |
 |
| Along the Canal de Saint-Quentin. |
 |
Riqueval bridge over the canal,
charged with history. |
 |
| WW1 picture of the Riquevall bridge. |
In September 1918, in the midst of the First World War, thousands victorious British soldiers posed on the side of the Riqueval Bridge, over the Saint Quintin canal in France.
The photo, taken after capturing the bridge intact, is a unique portrait of mass warfare: men counted by the thousands, cramped into minimal space, as if they were part of a single machine.
The bridge was key in the Hundred Days Offensive, the final push that led to the collapse of the German Empire. But beyond the military victory, this image forces us to think about something deeper: every point in the photograph is a life, a face, a destiny... and all together form the portrait of a generation marked by mud, dust and death.
The photo impresses for its scale, but also unsettling: how much value is an individual when war reduces him to one more number in a sea of uniforms?
 |
| Reaching Saint-Quentin. |
Saint-Quentin.
 |
| Saint-Quentin basilica. |
 T Saint-Quentin basilica, |
| the pilgrim labyrinth. |
 |
| Saint-Quentin, town hall. |
|---| Home (Ghent).
Day -2 (minus two).
From Breskens (Netherlands) [2] to Waarschoot (Belgium) [7], Monday 24/Aug/2026, 39.7km.
 |
The bus from Bruges to Breskens has payment services
for both the Belgian and the Dutch system. |
 |
Pier with the ferry crossing the river Scheldt
between Vlissingen (North) and Breskens (South). |
 |
Beaches along the Scheldt.
At the other side of the river, Vlissingen. |
 |
| Breskens, dike. |
 |
| Leaving Breskens. |
 |
| Polders. |
 |
| Dike. |
 |
| Drainage river. |
 |
| Remembrance to the Canadian liberation (1944). |
 |
| IJzendijke. |
 |
IJzendijke, 1604 remembrance to
Prince Maurice who defeated the Spaniards.
|
 |
IJzendijke.
Windmill "de Witte Juffer". |
 |
| Crossing the "Passageule Linie" (1604). |
 |
| Picnic in the "Pontebos". |
 |
| Border marker at the "Rovershoek". |
 |
| Watervliet, town hall. |
 |
| Watervliet. |
 |
| Polders. |
 |
| Leopoldkanaal, foot ferry. |
 |
| "Heinewegel". |
 |
| Kaprijke. |
 |
Kaprijke.
Entering the pedestrian and cycle tunnel. |
 |
Reaching Lembeke,
tree-lined drive to Aveschoot Castle. |
 |
| Walking through corn walls. |
 |
Leembeekse ossen.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Vrede chapel. |
 |
Carved mouse along
a children walking path. |
 |
| Bellebargiebos. |
 |
| Waarschoot. |
Transportation:
---- Tram from Home to Ghent-Sint-Pieters train station.
---- Train from Ghent-Sint-Pieters to Bruges, 7:11-7:36.
---- Bus 42 from Bruges to Breskens.m, 7:48-9:11.
---- Bus from Waarschoot to Ghent Sint-Pieters, evening return.
---- Tram from Ghent-Sint-Pieters to Home.
|---| Home.
DAY -1 (minus 1).
From Waarschoot [7] to Ghent [10], 23.3km.
Thanks for having watched my Via Scaldea blog post.
Remember this post is private.
Please do not share its URL (i.e. the internet address).
 |
| The guide book. |
.jpg)
T Saint-Quentin basilica,
