Around the Signal de Botrange

Let me take you to the east of Belgium again... First, let's have a look at the highest point of my country or indeed of the whole Benelux: the Signal de Botrange is 694 metres high and is located in between a cafe and one of the entrances of the national park of the High Fens. It's one of the windiest and coldest locations of Belgium. In winter there is a high probability of finding snow here and in summer it will never get warmer than 30 degrees Celcius.

On the other side of the road, you can find one of the entrances to the High Fens, Belgium's biggest nature reserve with a surface of a good 4500 hectares. It consists mainly of forest, moorland and raised bogs and is located between Monschau, Spa, Eupen and Malmedy. This can be a cold, wet and windy location, even in summer.

Did you know that this area served as the background of some movies? Calvaire (The Ordeal), a psychological horror movie by Fabrice Du Welz was filmed in the nature park and about 2 years ago Nicholas Cage was working close to Malmedy as well. If you want me to review Calvaire on my movie website, please let me know. It's actually one of my favourite Belgian movies!

When you follow the road towards Malmedy, you will certainly pass Lake Robertville. This artificial body of water is also located in the High Fens and is a popular summer holiday destination. You can choose from various water sports, as long as it is not motorized. The lake is located near the village of Robertville, which belongs to the municipality of Waimes. Lake Robertville is about 3 kilometres long, 0,3 kilometres wide and covers a surface of 0,62 square kilometres.

Take some time to explore the countryside here; this is one of the most idyllic corners of Belgium! There is even a village called Champagne!

On Monday I will take you to one of the most peculiar museums in Brussels.