Grand-Hornu, on the edge of the Borinage coalfield west of Mons, looks less like a coal mine than a neoclassical palace. In the early nineteenth century the industrialist Henri De Gorge built it as a model colliery, with workshops, offices and stables arranged around a vast oval courtyard of brick arches, and hundreds of houses for workers, each with its own garden, laid out in streets around it. It was a revolutionary idea at the time, combining industry and housing in one planned complex. Mining ended in the mid-twentieth century, and after years of neglect the site was restored. Today it houses a museum of contemporary art and a design centre, and it is one of the four Major Mining Sites of Wallonia listed by UNESCO in 2012.
The Borinage was the heart of Belgium's coal industry, and life here was harsh. Vincent van Gogh lived among the miners in the late 1870s as a lay preacher, sharing their poverty and sketching their lives, and that experience shaped his decision to become an artist. The houses where he lived, in Wasmes and Cuesmes, can be visited. The landscape still bears the marks of mining, with terrils, conical slag heaps now covered in birch and grass, rising above the brick towns.
Mons, a few kilometres east, is a handsome city with a Baroque belfry, also a World Heritage site, and a famous festival, the Doudou, held every year on Trinity Sunday, when Saint George fights a dragon in the main square amid enormous crowds.
The riding in this part of Hainaut is mostly urban and suburban, with brick towns merging into one another, traffic lights and cobbles. Surfaces can be rough, and tram rails and wet setts are slippery. The landscape opens up to the south, towards the woods and farmland near the French border, and the canals offer flat roads along the water. Rain is common, and roads can be greasy.
Saint-Ghislain and Quaregnon, both about two kilometres away, have fuel and shops, and Mons has everything you need. Try a plate of frites with a Belgian beer, or a local tarte al djote, a savoury tart made with chard and cheese from nearby Nivelles, and take a walk around the great oval courtyard.