Charity Walk and Lunch - 29 April 2013

It hardly seems a year since the last charity walk and lunch.  Time passes so quickly.  This year Françoise kindly volunteered to host our lunch.  You can see us all gathered around the pool in her lovely garden.  The weather had turned out quite nicely by then but not nice enough for a dip in the pool.

The weather was a bit dull but otherwise fair when we started walking but that did not last for long before it became quite breezy and the showers of rain started.  I was surprised at how much open space there is behind the Chaussée de Louvain in St Stevens Woluwe.

As you can see we needed our umbrellas again for a short time.  The highlight of our walk was spotting an owl in one of the trees at the side of the pathway.  We really got quite excited but the owl seemed quite unperturbed by our presence.  The photos are not very clear but you can just see him in the tree.  If you click on the image to enlarge it you will perhaps see more clearly.

Once again the WIC walkers put on a great buffet for our charity lunch (well done us!) and it was smiles all round as we were about to tuck in.  Sheila and Paulette presented Françoise with a bouquet of flowers as a token of our appreciation for her generous hospitality.  Thank you Paulette for organising everything and once again  a big "thank you" to Françoise.

Janie's walk in the Forêt de Soignes on 26th April

Yesterday was a radiant summer's day. Today the temperature fell to 10 degrees, it was misty and it rained. Is this the result of the climate warming? Well the walking group  decided that it would not affect its enthusiasm. Jane, who has decided to be called Janie to avoid any confusion, was in charge and did a great job taking us off  our usual route and showing us the Parc Tournai Solvay on the way. She took the time to explain the background of the property and pointed out  flowers  unknown to most of us. Thank you Janie

Paulette's walk at Jesus Eik

Although the weather forecast was not very good, we had a glorious day and our walk took a little bit longer than usual.

We could see the first signs of the spring here and there but we will have to wait another week to really see the transformation of the nature. After the walk, we took the opportunity to say farewell to our good friend Helen who is going back home. We will miss you, Helen.

Paulette's Walk at La Hulpe

As we gathered ... a little late due to the problems parking caused by the sudden popularity of the château due to a children's festival taking place there this weekend ... the skies opened and we anticipated a wet walk.  But the Walking God looked after us and, apart from a brief and gentle spattering of rain, we had a dry and pleasant afternoon - and the threatening dark clouds held back their rain until we were all well on our way home.

There was no camera present today, so some iffy phone images follow ... you can play spot the daffodil!

Thank you Paulette for leading us again today.

 

Jane's Tervuren walk

Jane writes:
12 ladies assembled for the walk today, optimistic that the morning rain would clear away and the sun would shine. Their optimism was justified: the rain held off and the sun shone for stretches of the walk through Tervuren village and up into the forest, returning by the lakes for refreshments at the Boathouse cafe.

The logs that caused all the mud we had to skirt around/squelch through in one section!

Spring has arrived!

WIC on the Rocks as usual!

Margaret's walk from rue Nisard

Today's walk from rue Nisard was a change from the usual one. New!! it had said on the blog, but that meant a change of venue because of roadworks on the Ring. As it turned out, though,we did in fact do a new walk - one that had previously been recced after a fashion, but not adopted because it didn't take in a café big enough to accommodate a large group. Today there were just four of us, so we took the opportunity to avoid ending up "you know where" yet again and set off on a half-remembered route that took us on unfamiliar forest paths. With a little bit of puzzling over the map, we eventually emerged from the forest at the intended spot and walked down through the picturesque Coin du Balai to the Place Wiener, where we paused for coffee at a little restaurant Melly knew (sadly no more suitable for large numbers of muddy-booted ladies than the bookshop cum café some of us had already visited). We then made our way back up to the cars (NOT via the long and winding rue Nisard!) Mostly the weather was kind (warm, even), though the forecast downpour did materialise towards the end. But we had come prepared.

Gisela's walk in Moorsel and Everburg

Thank you Gisela for a lovely walk through quiet streets,

beautiful woods,

and who would guess this is the E40?

Gisela said hello to an old friend.

We were glad to see some real spring flowers at last in a front garden.

We met up with Sheila's group in the Steenberg sports centre .

Joan's walk in Tervuren

By April you would assume that the temperature would have been pleasant for walking, oh no.  We were all chilled to the bone by the time we set off from the lake at Tervuren.  The fifteen ladies kept up a cracking pace for the +8km walk, which took us along lakes then up through fields to Duisburg, then down to Vossem where we followed the Voer back into the park.  I think it was the fastest walk I have ever led.  Mont Blanc was a welcome relief, where we met up with Sheila's group.  I hope you have all thawed out by now.  (by Joan)