Gembloux grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in the tenth century, and for most of its history the monks ran the show. The abbey buildings, rebuilt in a grand classical style in the eighteenth century, now house a university faculty of agricultural sciences, fitting for a town surrounded by some of the richest farmland in Belgium. The belfry, a solid tower that was once part of a church and later became the town's civic symbol, stands in the centre and is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Climbing it gives views over the rooftops and across the open fields of the Hesbaye.
The town has a long and sometimes violent history. In 1578 Spanish forces crushed a Dutch rebel army at the Battle of Gembloux, and in May 1940 French troops fought a fierce battle here against German armoured divisions in one of the first big tank engagements of the Second World War. Memorials and cemeteries in the area recall the fighting.
The riding around Gembloux is flat to gently rolling, with straight roads across open farmland, fields of wheat, sugar beet and potatoes, and small brick villages. It is easy riding rather than thrilling, but the valley of the Orneau to the south and the Meuse valley around Namur, about fifteen kilometres away, offer more relief, with rocky cliffs, forests and twisting roads. Traffic can be heavy near Namur and on the main roads, and the weather is changeable, often grey and windy.
Gembloux has fuel, shops and restaurants, and the town centre has several cafés around the main square. Namur, the capital of Wallonia, has a magnificent citadel on a rocky spur above the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse, and a lively old town with restaurants and bars.
Local food includes Walloon dishes like boulets liégeois, meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce made with local syrup, and tarte au sucre, a rich sugar tart. Belgian beer is everywhere, with dozens of local and abbey brews to try, of course only when the riding is done. The Hesbaye looks its best in June, with the wheat high, and in the misty mornings of October. Stand at the foot of the belfry, look up, and remember that this calm farming town has seen armies clash on its doorstep more than once.