Opprobais is a quiet rural village to the SE of Brussels, midway between the Belgian capital and Namur. Its attractions include the remains of a fortified farmhouse, a 200 year old windmill and a disused quarry that is now a lake.
As in many Belgian villages, there’s a monument for the victims of the two world wars of the 20th century that were so hard on Belgium and its population.
Behind the war memorial, what looks like a ruined castle is now private property and used to be a fortified farmhouse.
A five minute walk leads you to a quarry with an interesting history. You can read about it in a favourite blog of mine, Discovering Belgium. The title of the blog speaks for itself. Here, I will just mention that the quarry fell into disuse close to a hundred years ago, and eventually became a lake, a dangerous place for swimming, diving, and finally the focal point of a nature trail. Walking with Sue and Suzy along the perimeter, I remarked on how nature always reclaims the blemishes and scars created by man. Which is why I’m confident that, once we’re out of the way, planet earth will heal and return to its previous splendour after the harm we’re inflicting upon it right now.
Winter hasn’t even started yet. Officially it begins in one week’s time, but it feels as if we’ve already been half way through it. This morning, we had a respite from the cold and drizzle and were able to enjoy the quiet of this beautiful area. Even the partial cloud cover cooperated to produce some wonderful photo opportunities.
In the distance, a windmill came into view. When I took the picture above I zoomed in a bit, but it still looks tiny, just left of centre. We would eventually reach it, but first we needed to get through a slippery and muddy path…
A good deal of slipping and slopping later, we were able to appreciate from close up the 200-year-old Moulin Gustot in all its glory.
According to Discoving Belgium, the very well kept windmill comes into action during a bread festival each year in the month of June. That’s one event that we need to check out!
Thus came to an end a thoroughly enjoyable morning walk. Thank you, Denzil, for bringing this attractive area to the world’s attention!
The Wanderer 