In the Laval and Western Ourthe valleys

Car park near Sprimont School.

(S/E) Head towards the school and continue towards Bastogne. Pass a small chapel and carry on to the junction with Rue des Aigrettes.

(1) Turn left towards Aviscourt. Cross over the Grand Ri, a stream in Sprimont. Ignore the road on the left and, at the crossroads, carry on straight ahead until the next junction by a white barrier.

(2) Turn left onto Chemin de l’Étang. Follow the path for just under 1 km, with a view of the Laval on your left, until you reach the Étang d’Orti and its nature reserve.

(3) Turn left onto the wooden walkway. Cross the footbridge and, halfway across, turn round to admire the artwork ‘Maiandros’ suspended between two trees. At the end of the footbridge, continue along the sunken path and head uphill: you’ll see the village of Lavacherie on your right. Walk past the sculpture *Ceci est un arbre*. Continue to the steps on your right, just past the picnic area.

(4) Go down the steps and turn right. Follow the old Marche–Amberloup–Martelange railway line. Walk past the artworks *Nature Jura Sua Semper Resumit* and then *‘Water, Source of Life’*. Carry on, crossing the River Ourthe via the old metal bridge. Just after this, on the right below you, look out for signs of beavers’ activity on a tree trunk. Continue to the crossroads.

(5) Take a sharp right-hand bend and walk towards the house. Look out for signs of beavers on your left. Walk past the house to see the next artwork, ‘Domino d’Orti’. Return to the level of the house’s terrace and turn right towards the footbridge. Look under the bridge to discover the artwork *Le Nageur*. Cross the bridge, head right, then take the^first path on your left (^GR®® cross). Head uphill until you reach a path running alongside a meadow. Continue until you reach a fork in the path.

(6) Turn left and walk across the open ground. Join another path on your left and carry on straight ahead until you reach the road. Turn right, passing the War Prisoners’ Cemetery. Ignore the^firstforest^trackon the left and carry on until you reach the next path on your left.

(7) Take this farm track between fields and a fir forest. At the end, turn right. At the road, turn left, head uphill and turn right into Rue des Longs Prés. Walk to the sign marking the Herbaimont built-up area.

(8) Turn right onto the dirt track just before the sign. The dirt track becomes a road. There is a view of the valley on your right. Carry on to the crossroads.

(9) Carry on straight along the dirt track, then head downhill. The track turns sharply to the right and then to the left. Carry on to a junction.

(10) Keep to your left and return to the Étang d’Orti.

(3) Take the path on the left again and follow the Laval until you rejoin the road.

(2) Turn right, then carry on straight ahead, returning to the other road. Cross over the Grand Ri again and walk to the N826.

(1) Turn right and return to the car park (S/E).

Avoid this route during periods of high water. It is impossible to cross to reach the footbridge after marker (5) as the path is under water.
Good waterproof footwear is recommended following heavy snow or rain.
From October to December, please be aware of hunting dates – a large section of the Promenade d’Orti is closed.
No drinking water available along the route.
Picnic table: car park at the start, Étang d’Orti at (3), before (4).
Bench at (7) and after (7).
The circular pattern is often in open country, so remember to protect yourself from the sun.

During

The pond at the Orti Nature Reserve.

Traces of beavers after the bridge over the Ourthe, after (4) and before the house after (5).

The War Graves Cemetery: 150 former prisoners of war and political prisoners are buried here.

Six of the nine artworks on the Orti Art Trail:

1/ Maiandros by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse). Maiandros, or meanders, evoking the confluence of the Laval with the Ourthe. A work that welcomes visitors and sets the tone through the symbolism of arms and the meanders formed by a river as it winds through a wetland. The meandering course of life, the passage from one bank to the other. A riverbed that shifts with the seasons, water levels and rainfall; one might almost describe it as a braided riverbed…
A mural made of steel blades that vibrate in the wind, undulate – one might even say flow… A flow, a current, a two-dimensional movement: that of arms and meanders.
Materials: twisted steel, cables – 2019

2/ This is a tree by Koen Van Elsen (Warempage). A dead tree that ‘comes’ to life – a metaphor. A tree connects the sky to the earth, like the tentacles of an octopus. The vertical glass veins symbolise water and minerals drawn from the earth and rising upwards. Combined with solar energy, new cells develop.
The glass pieces at the ends of the truncated branches reflect the meadows, the clouds, the sky… They draw our attention to the environment.
Materials: oak, glass – 2019

3/ Natura Jura Sua Semper Resumit or ‘Nature always reclaims its rights’ by Guy Fagny (Vance). ‘Like a wide-eyed child who carefully picks up what they have found on the ground and protects it in a makeshift container, the cylinder simply encircles the chosen trunk and whispers a message of caution and preservation to passers-by.
The tree will continue to produce its branches. It will grow within a casing that jealously reveals its richness. From time to time, as the seasons pass, depending on its vigour, and if necessary, it will be tended to … If, unfortunately, the tree falls ill, or worse still, dies, the casing will be moved and used as a case for another tree…
Nature will reclaim its rights, but humankind will once again be able to harmoniously control the excesses of new branches or encourage their growth by balancing, as it sees fit, the steel placed there and the vegetation’s own drive.”
A small insect hotel is concealed behind the perforations in the steel.
Materials: 5 mm Corten steel – 2019

4/ Water: Source of Life by Georges Blaise (Grune). “Drop by drop, it drips, becoming a puddle, a pool, a pond, or trickling towards the river. It replenishes the water table and creates the wetlands essential for combating flooding and soil erosion during storms and thunderstorms. Woman and man unite and give life. By holding the drop of water at arm’s length, woman and man are the guardians of the preservation and restoration of wetlands, on which countless species of aquatic plants and animals depend.”
Materials: Belgian blue stone, 10 mm steel – 2019

5/ ‘Domino d’Orti’ by Kris Rabaut (Erneuville). A work that expresses the complex, fragile and sometimes paradoxical balance found in wetlands and nature in general. “During my visits to the Orti site, I was struck by the constant changes: the water level rising or falling, the current growing stronger or calming down, trees falling… a dam forming… a complex interplay of forces and actors at work… arising from nothing; forces that one day work together and the next day fight one another.” Domino d’Orti expresses this interplay of tension between these forces, sometimes in harmony, sometimes at odds, whether visible or invisible. Just as in a spiral of dominoes, when one element is removed, the balance is disrupted and the whole collapses.
Some may also interpret this as the work of the beaver, which is very much present on the site.
Small holes drilled into the wood provide a home for our pollinators.
Materials: Douglas fir, black locust pegs, Paalupiste galvanised steel piles – 2019

6/ The Swimmer by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse). The playfulness, the magic of swimming, diving, movement and the ripple. A figure that is half-fish, half-human swimmer. A light silhouette made of golden metal filaments. A figure gliding through the current.
Materials: steel, gold paint – 2019
A work that is both substantial and understated, yet unexpected.