Intrigued by a book I read , I rode towards the Chateau de Valduc today, on the east side of the Meerdael Forest, not far from Hamme Mille. The parc of this chateau , which stands on the grounds of an old abbey, is said to hold the oldest pine tree in Belgium, a taxus which is estimated at being 770 years old. Since the Cistercienzer abbey was founded in 1232, this might be a correct assumption. Obviously the grounds are private but I managed to penetrated through a hole in the wall and check out some parts of it. Unfortunately I could not find the taxus. I did spot some very big trees though, proving that there are indeed some very old vestiges of greenery here. I must return here and ask about the tree, but I only saw a farmer and some playing children on the castle grounds. Neither of them seemed to be bothered by my passing on what are after all private grounds. 

After this I set my course towards Archennes where I dabbled along in the Dyle valley. Looking for a possibility to cross over from Archennes to the Bois de Laurensart, but I didn't manage to find a way. The river was blocking me and there seemed to be no bridges between Gastuche and Florival.

I set towards Gastuche next to ride up to the Bois de Laurensart on its western border , with the steep climb near the Tomme. I had spotted some dark clouds gathering in the southwest, and decided to hurry home over Pecrot and Nethen and through the Meerdael Forest. In all I had a pleasant low-effort ride and with the cloud cover the temperature was manageable as well, around 26 degrees C.

Ride Stats : 39k and 365/435 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h19mins

6397/62100