On the way to Mons, via Bois du Luc. First towards Chatelet, on the way I pick up the path along the Sambre, one more time through that decor of twisted steel and stagnated mastodons … I pass old and new buildings and see a plane that serves as an office in a parking lot, talked about recycling !
I find a cycle path on a former railroad track. Coming comfortably under the foliage, I get a lot further. Then again through villages and along motorways, an abbreviation on a muddy path at Morlanwelz, La Louvière is slowly getting closer.
Around half past one I reach the mining museum site of Bois du Luc. A sandwich in the shade and a journey through the still-quiet cité, striking in square shape, soft yellow. Many houses are boarded up, the rest look well cared for. A few people in the doorway see my camera and immediately close the door.
I visit the museum, armed with an audio headset. It’s nice to just wander around the buildings, the tour is a bit long-winded and the presentation frankly very old-fashioned, as is often the case with museums like this. When I return my headset at the cash register, I start talking to the ticket seller. She is shocked by my criticism of the content of the exhibition and is happy with my compliments for the complex. The old problem – also here – is money, money, money. There are ideas to renew things, but the resources are lacking. There are many school children visiting, she says as a vague excuse?
