An Evening Excursion to Belgium's Highest Waterfall

The title is a bit misleading, but more about that later in this post. Anyway, Coo is a small town in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Most people visit it because of its waterfall, which is known to be the highest in my country. There are lots of cafes and restaurants here, but because of the popularity of the location, it's not cheap to drink and eat here. Better check out the surrounding towns or villages for food and drinks; it will be considerably less expensive.

Upon arrival, you can hear the thunderous sounds of the waterfall. Just follow the signs, descend the stairs and you can admire the waterfall. By the way, the river that you can see on some of the pictures is called the Ambleve.

The waterfall is 15 meters high, although touristic services say it's 13 meters. Because this is a hugely popular place, better visit it early in the morning or late in the evening (as we did). As you can see you will have the whole place to yourself. And the light is better!

As I said before, the title of the post is misleading, simply because this is NOT Belgium's highest waterfall! Better head to Reinhardstein, where there is one of 60 meters high. You will have to do some hiking, but you will be rewarded with some magnificent views. Anyway, because Reinhardstein is relatively unknown, most Belgians and foreigners still believe that Coo Waterfall is the highest in my country.

On the other side of the river, you can see Plopsa Coo, an attraction park, which, as you can imagine, also attracts a lot of people. But when not overrun by tourists, Coo is actually a cute town.

We didn't feel like driving home immediately after our visit to Coo and its waterfall. We ended up exploring the surrounding countryside, which is actually peaceful and magnificent. I still remember that it was a beautiful, tranquil evening at the beginning of autumn; in the valleys, you could see mist coming up...

Want to visit Coo as well and admire the waterfall? Or maybe have some fun in the attraction park? Have a look at this website for a bit more information. You can get there by car of course or by train. Check the website of the Belgian railways to know more.

On Friday I will take you back to the Belgian coast. Tomorrow, I will update the movie website.

The Tarnished Beauty of Ostend

In the middle of the Belgian coastline lies the city of Ostend. With its more than 70.000 inhabitants it's the biggest town at the sea in Belgium. Because of its easy accessibility - both by car and by train - it is a popular destination during holidays. Indeed, whenever there is the slightest bit of sunshine lots of people like to spend a day in Ostend, yours truly included.

When you arrive in Ostend by train - which is very convenient, because the train station is close to the centre of the town - the first thing you see is the seaport. Follow the many day-trippers and you end up at the beautiful esplanade and the old pier. This fine esplanade is without any doubt one of the busiest places in Ostend. But, to be honest, I like the old, wooden pier, from which you have a beautiful view of the Klein Strand (literally "small beach").

It's a charming place, this old pier... And it's always fun to see the boats leaving and arriving in the seaport.

Let's follow the esplanade. You will see a huge contemporary work of art and opposite this, the new pier, which is quite frankly a sore to the eyes... Nevertheless, it seems to attract lots of people. Unfortunately for you, I didn't photograph it. It's also a pity that the whole of the esplanade is lined with high-rise buildings, a sad phenomenon that you see in all Belgian coastal towns. Anyway, keep on walking on the esplanade, maybe eat or drink something in one of the many brasseries and you arrive at the casino and the Groot Strand (yes, the big beach).

But Ostend is more than the esplanade and the beaches. Check out the James Ensor Museum and the Mu.Zee, for example, a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Have a look at the Mercator, a ship which was used to train merchant navy officers and is now open to the public. If you want to know more about what to and to see in Ostend, visit the touristic website.

That's it for today. Tomorrow I will update my movie website and on Wednesday, I'm back here with an article about the highest waterfall in Belgium.

Driving to Lake Gileppe

In my post about the Signal de Botrange, I mentioned the nature park of the High Fens. When I was doing research about the post of today, I found some more pictures of this beautiful area. Here they are:

Let's drive to Jalhay, a small picturesque town. It's cosy here with all the cafes and restaurants, but most tourists ignore it and follow the roadsigns towards Gileppe Dam, just a couple of kilometres away. And to be honest, it's quite breathtaking.

Let's start with some numbers. The dam itself is 68 metres high, 365 metres long and its base is 66 metres wide. The lake itself - also called Gileppe - has a total capacity of 26.400.000 cubic metres and covers an area of 130 hectares. The dam was constructed between 1868 and 1878.

Initially, the function of the dam was to supply water for the wool industry in the nearby city of Verviers. Nowadays, times have changed and the dam is used to provide drinking water. And of course, the dam and the lake attract lots of tourists. This is, by the way, the first dam built in modern Belgium. On top of it, you can see a huge lion sculpture of about 13,5 metres high.

The parking space is located next to an observation tower. There is an elevator that brings you all the way down to the dam and the lake. There is a restaurant as well, but the beautiful view comes at a price. Or in other words, it's not cheap. Anyway, all in all, this is a beautiful area. During the summer holidays, you better come early, as the dam and the lake attract lots of tourists.

Afterwards, we had one last look at the High Fens.

It's Saturday tomorrow and I will probably be over at my other blog writing something related to the Oscars. On Monday, I will take you the Belgian coast.