A DAY OUT IN THE ARDENNES: LIEGE AND SOLWASTER.

Because we can't keep complaining about muslims or socialists forever, it's good to catch some fresh air now and then. Once upon a time, a semi-regular contribution on my exploits in the Ardennes was a fixed staple on this here blog, but the last one dates from a couple of years ago already. Anyway, with sunny weather and zilch chance on rain, plus the daughter also willing to go, I thought it might be a good idea to head south again after a long pause. And so we did.

But first a short stop in Liége, la 'Cité Ardente'.


The Tour Paradis, or Tour des Finances de Liège, a brand new building housing some 1,100 fonctionnaires of the Ministry of Finance. Not that high, only 118 meters, but of a peculiar design.






Nearby is the main station of Liège, Liège Guillemins, designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava:





And then it was off to Solwaster, a tiny village perhaps halfway between Liège and the German border, at the edge of the Parc National des Hautes Fagnes. There's a modest walk there, No. 57 (dark blue rectangles), only 9 kilometers long, but commendable as a warmup exercise for tougher stuff. Also, quite nice because following the picturesque Statte brook (a tributary of the Hoëgne river, which seems to actually be a nicer place according to this bloke) for much of the way AND excellent signals, no risk whatsoever of getting lost. Sorry for the mediocre photography, I'm still using a geriatric iPhone4.





At some point we came across a peculiar rock formation rising some 20 meters above the Statte valley. This is the Rocher de Bilisse, about 500 million years old, so smack in the middle (give or take 10 million years) of the Cambrian. Very interesting since in fact having been pushed up through leverage from later sedimentary layers nearby, deposited between 280 (Permian) and 400
(Devonian) Ma ago.






A view on Solwaster from a ridge actually higher up the Rocher de Bilisse:






And finally back to the village. Landscape not so stunning as along the Semois further south, but it was worth the oxygen cure.






MFBB.