Off to summer camp

Last Monday Maarten left for summer camp, all happy and hugely excited. It’s always hard to say good bye for me, but hopefully Maarten have never noticed that.

Today I got caught in the rain on my “daily” jog. I got wet in 5 seconds, totally soaked! And it’s still raining cats and dogs.


Maarten’s camp is located on a beautiful meadow adjacent to the shallow Lesse river, a lovely setting. But with this heavy rain I truly wish their tents won’t be washed away.

Vous êtes Hollandaise, n'est-ce pas?

This spring first sunny and warm Saturday really spoiled us. But on Sunday the temperature dropped up to 13 degrees and started to rain bringing us back to reality. This is Belgium!

Let’s hope the bad weather won’t ruin our trip!

The rain gained in intensity until it became a downpour when we reached the little village of Houx, our starting point of the hike.
NO hiking without waterproofs today!

Cobblestone path led us from the village right to the steep muddy trail climbing up to the ruined castle of Poilvache. We’ve been here before, long time ago, then on a warm sunny day. It was beautiful!
But also today the lush woodlands were covered with windflowers, fig buttercups, cowslips and my favorite sweet violets.

By the time we reached the ruins we were already soaked. Luckily it felt quite warm so we decided to continue anyway.





The nature reserve along the river Meuse is a great hiking area but using this dated hiking guide it was a challenge to find our way.
Many times it was rather following our instinct. Most of the suggested paths were overgrown and impenetrable.


That’s how we came across this rusty bomb probably from the World War II. The boys were shaking with excitement, especially the bigger one, so I really had to rush them away from this place.
Up and down we went climbing and descending for several times, forcing our way through the thicket, we startled a deer in the brush… Finally, rather by a miracle we found ourselves on a path leading right to the searched Tour de Géronsart, ruins of a medieval watchtower.

Naturally Maarten couldn’t resist climbing those thick walls making me nervous, therefore I could hardly enjoy the marvelous views from the old bare windows overlooking the Meuse river valley.

Descending back to the valley it was muddy and slippery meaning Maarten was most of the time on his buttocks having blast of course!
Ooh, almost forgot to mention that it actually stopped raining somewhere half way.

An old jeep puffing up the hill with a little doggie behind the wheel stopped next to us and two laughing men went straight: "Vous êtes Hollandaise, n'est-ce pas? I can tell just by looking at you. This is actually a private area. Mais c'est pas grave."

Our guide book was dated, but what an adventure!

Vêves - Gendron - Furfooz

We visited the castle of Vêves with my mom-in-law some 6 years ago. The reason for romantic memories might be my fresh pregnancy, at that time, when despite the really bad nausea I felt like I was walking on air.

Reading about the possibility of hiking in the castle surroundings I wanted to go there again.

The guidebook promised splendid panoramic views of the La Lesse Valley, glimpse of castle of Noisy, crossing of the river and her tributary for several times, climbing steep slopes through a wild forest...
In some way I missed the busy paved highway and exposed field roads.



Luckily there was a great wading spot in the creek. The water must be really cold but Maarten found a way to warm his frozen feet afterwards.
He simply peed on them. Boys?!!




We left the woods. I sensed troubles seeing the long road through the wheat fields stretching ahead of us.
Yet the roadsides were lined with wild flowers, with chamomile in particular. It filled the hot air with a wonderful subtle scent.


Maarten amused himself by collecting the flowers for his favorite tea and it seemed he didn’t notice much of this boring road.

PS: Regrettably, the heat took its toll. Maarten got a fever during the night and therefore he had to miss the long-awaited school trip to the "Brielle meester".

Greener than ever

Being empty for about a year our house was nearly taken over by the adjacent forest.
Four years ago the new owners were overenthusiastic. I was satisfied believing the house was in good hands.
It would have been better if we cherished old memories instead of seeing the current reality. The house was rather in shabby state as well as the neglected garden.
I must admit it was a bit of a disappointment.

However, driving to Villance was a good excuse for visiting my favorite Ardennes, even in the rain!
But still only a few drops of rain fell and even it stayed cloudy, the weather was not bad at all.

We went for a hike starting in a small picturesque hamlet of Lesse. Even though supplied with a guidebook we were already lost in the first kilometer.

No reasons to worry, the woods of the Ardennes don’t seem to be that wild and deep, so after a while we miraculously found our route again.

The flooded streams and puddles were traditionally irresistible for Maarten. If only he would wait with wadding until it gets a little warmer!


The puddles were full of frog eggs. This was again something interesting as they learned about amphibians and even observed a frog's life cycle in Maarten's classroom.





We crossed the Roli Brook several times. When we entered the wide open fields, it was obvious. This was not amusing enough for Maarten. Here we cheated a little and didn't follow the suggested trail. Instead of that we took another path back to the woods and continued alongside the wild Our and Lesse Rivers.


Here, this should be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places of the Ardennes.
I can only agree.

Yes, I have always enjoyed this area. Despite the negative remarks of some Czechs comparing the Ardennes to Czech mountains. As for me I wouldn't compare it to any mountains, since I don't consider the Ardennes to be mountains at all.

I like this region for its rural character with authentic villages, farms, historical abbeys and castles, its gently rolling hills covered by pastureland and extensive woods.

Even though the gloomy fir woods are one of the most dominant features of the Ardennes, they are actually not native to this area!


The present vegetation pattern is the result of the local history.
150 years ago you would hardly find a single fir tree here.
In the Middle Ages the monks were first who started the deforestation of this densely wooded area. There were even more woods cleared in the 18th and begin of 19th century for the benefit of industry and agriculture.
Period of recovery and growth followed as man needed wood for mining and railway sleepers.
This meant comeback of oak and beech trees and also planting pine trees.

Nowadays the timber industry is still active in this area but so are the forest nurseries.
The forest recovery is not yet complete and maybe never will be.

Nevertheless, I hope the Ardennes forest, once destroyed by human activities, will continue growing!