On the first Lorraine cuesta between Lischert and Metzert

Parking along Rue de la Lorraine, near the Les Petits Nicolas nursery, a long, single-storey, dark brown building at the entrance to the village when coming from Heinsch.

(S/E) Take the Chemin des Noisetiers (a dead-end road), to the left of the aforementioned building when facing the entrance.
The road quickly turns into a stony track and enters the woodland. There is a view of the valley on your right. At the junction, ignore the path on your left.

(1) At the Fork in the road shortly afterwards, keep left and continue through the woods until you reach another crossroads further on.

(2) Turn right, emerge from the trees and cross an open stretch. At the end, turn right. Pass the hamlet of Op der Hauf and immediately take the path on your left. A long, almost straight descent through the deciduous woodland.

(3) At the junction, carry straight on. The path winds its way to the Tattert Pond.

(4) When you reach the pond, there’s a jetty in front of you and information boards on your left. There’s a small bridge on your right; take this and walk round the pond. There are more information boards at the end of the bank, not far from the road. At the road, turn left and take the path near the pond. Leave the pond and follow the road for about fifty metres. Turn left at the first path you come to.

^GR®16signposting

Keep to your right; at the fork in the road, turn left and follow the main path. Leave the woods and walk along the meadows to the junction near a chalet. Turn right and then left at the next path. Head back up towards the forest and follow the path to a junction.

(5) Turn left. Markings cease.

No Signposting

Where there is a choice of paths, take the one on the right. This is part of the Freylange fitness trail. Ignore the paths and tracks coming from either side of the main path. At the crossroads, carry straight on. The path then bends sharply to the right. A track joins you from the left.

Blue Rectangle Markings

Carry on and pass under the high-voltage power lines until you reach a wide track. Turn left. The markings are rather poor in this section, but don’t worry – just keep going straight on. At the crossroads, carry on straight ahead. A little further on, you’ll emerge from the tree cover and walk alongside a meadow on your right. Three-quarters of the way along this open stretch, on the right, you’ll have a view of Arlon and its two churches: Saint-Donat and Saint-Martin.

(6) At the multi-way junction, go straight on. The return route follows the paths on your left. Ignore the poorly marked paths on your right for approximately 500 metres.

Unmarked

(7) Turn right onto the grassy, poorly marked path and ignore the path coming immediately from your left. Head downhill and pass under the uprooted trees.

(8) At the fork in the road, turn right and continue downhill.

(9) At the bottom, at the junction, turn left. Pass under the branches of the young hazel trees and emerge onto a clearer path running along the foot of a steep slope on your left. Join a track and continue straight on. At the T-junction, turn right and then left at the first path you come to.

(10) Once back on a wide track, turn right.

Blue Rectangle signposting

Walk to the road. Turn left; look out for the rock on your right, on the other side of the road – this is the Metzert ‘crocodile’.

No markings

Then turn left and follow the sandy path which, further on, veers sharply to the left before turning right. Pass through an area of tree stumps and uprooted trees; stay on the main path until you reach the junction at the boundary between the forest and the countryside.

Blue Rectangle Signpost

Turn left and head into the forest. Follow the forest track and, before reaching a road, turn left. Head uphill.

(11) When you reach the wide path, turn right. At the crossroads with a small statue in a tree, at a place called Am Beynert, turn right. Head downhill for approximately 600 metres and, as you emerge from the forest, turn left. Ignore the path leading straight back into the forest on your left and continue along the one running alongside the meadow fence. Then enter the forest and head uphill along the winding, sunken path.

(12) At the junction, take the path on the right and head back up to the wide track.

(6) At the multi-way junction, take the first path on your right. Join a track near the high-voltage power lines, pass under them and enter the woods again. Ignore the path on the left and then the one on the right until you spot a path on your right leading to a building.

(13) This is the old Lischert washhouse, dating from 1912. Walk up the path and rejoin the main track. Carry on. Leave the forest; you’ll see the bell tower of Lischert church. Ignore the path on your left. Enter the village; the path becomes a road.

(14) At the junction with the main road, turn left. Walk past the remarkable chestnut tree and return to the car park (S/E).

No water along the route
Please be aware of hunting dates from October to December

During

The cuestas of Lorraine are a series of cuestas found in the Lorraine and Gaume regions, straddling the border between Belgium and France. They therefore extend across the Belgian Lorraine region, the Gaume and French Lorraine. A ‘cuesta’ (a word of Spanish origin meaning ‘hill’) is a hill where one slope has been made steep by erosion, whilst the other forms a gently sloping plateau. The subsoil consists of sand, marl and clay.

The old wash house at Lischert: at the foot of the cuesta, numerous springs bubble to the surface. This unusual wash house dates from 1912. Note the enormous barrel vault that forms the roof. Two large arched windows also provide light for the wash house.

Nearby
Arlon.
Maitrank: an aperitif made from woodruff.
Orval: its abbey, its cheese and its beer.
Chips with cheese sauce: a speciality of the Arlon region.