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 | 2004-08-04 Liege, Beautiful Dirty City.
entry by IIVQ
8/4/2004 9:36 PM
| I had to learn today as I have a resit in 6 days, but I totally didn't feel like it and as I can lend (ed borrow) my mothers car for only a few days more, I headed off to Liege, to La Chartreuse, a military barrack complex, on a hill in the city centre. One of the main outside doors still sais "Küche" so It's possible that it is abandoned since WWII.
Trip
For me it's about 20 KM to Liege, and enough to see. The first point of interest is at about 100 metres from my house: they're building a new bridge to have a broader and higher passage in the Albert Canal (Albertkanaal / Canal Albert). The next few miles isn't special, but it has a nice landscape, and a downhill slope that will launch your car if you don't go in low gear.
Then from Vise on the side road down to Liege. In most of the places the road, highway and railroad are crammed between a 80 metre rock face and the river Maas/Meuse, in some places they managed to cram houses inbetween or on the rock face. From the road I could see a sand quarry but not the access road to it. I took 2 side roads which were not them, I don't know how they managed to get all the sand away, maybe they only built the houses later.
I found out the SCAR grain elevator (I think) isn't abandondoned at all. I drove past Charbonniere Le Hasard in Cheratte, probably together with charleroi metro the most-visited UE place in Belgium. Soooo tempting - but I don't dare to go in there alone, without anyone knowing where I am - chances of a drop are too high there.
Continuing south on the road, just after you pass under the viaduct of the E40 to Aachen, there's a building with all glass thrown in and an easy access - though you'd probably land head-first into a toilet bowl. Only problem: the access is in plain view of a busy road  .
One of the buildings of the Stella Artois Brewery in Wandre or Bressoux is abandoned - but I wouldn't go in there as it's right next to the active buildings - provided you found a way in. Maybe it's not abandoned at all, they just never have to be in that building because it holds a couple of beer kettles - everything is piped anyway.
Chartreuse
Finally arriving in la Chartreuse, I passed 3 old people with a friendly "bonjour" and they promply stopped babbling and clung on to their purses even more ... I found my way up and trough the main arch trough the main building on to the big field in frond of the main Barracks. It consists of 3 parts. The left part has 3 rooms, a passage and stairway then 3 more rooms, each on 4 floors and on 2 sides. It bears the texts: "Lys" and "Liege". The center building consists of 5 rooms, a gate with the passage and above a central staircase and another 5 rooms, each on three floors and again both sides, and bears the texts ?, "Anvers" and "Yser". The right building is a mirror of the left building except that it's only 3 floors, and it bears the texts "Merckem" and "Oost-Nieuwkerke". Behind these buildings are several others, all in about the same state of decay, being that the roof is severely leaking and collapsed in some places, the top floor full of plants but the lower floors are quite clean. There's broken glass, plaster and dust everywere, but it's actually quite clean looking at the state of the buildings. This might be due to the fact that all windows are open, so the wind is free to pick up dust.
I settled myself down in the Main building, first floor, first room to the left on the front side, snd opened my Statistics book. Don't wanna talk about it.
In the meanwhile I heard a lot of birds and one time I heard a definately human whistle. I said "Hallo" and whistled back - but nothing. some 15 minutes later I heard something that might have been footsteps, so I've must scared the other guy off (Whistling is btw allways a good idea, you show your presence so you don't scare other people around off by making footsteps - which could be a crow in the other part of the buiding).
I did not leave the way I came in, but climbed over the main gate to get out trough a cut-out cobblestone path - which must once have been the main entrance but is now a really steep side road.
The way back
At about 7 I drove back, but not after taking a peek at an abandoned railway nearby - It appears they were converting it to a bicicle track - in some parts the imprints of crossties and some railspikes could still clearly be seen so it was *just* cleared away.
I took about the same way back (a quick detour past the Val d'Or or Waldor, whatever you write it - but I wouldn't go in there without a guide or compagny at least.
The only thing I notoced on the way back that near my village there's a bridge over the road that looks quite much like an abandoned railroad bridge - but I'm pretty certain there has *never* been a railroad there and the tramway (which *has* been here) would've made much more sense on the other side of the valley - trough the villages. I've gotta Rural Explore into that some more - but with long trousers and/or google.
Moral of the story
Liege is a city. A beautiful city wich has an atmosphere I've felt in Paris, Athens, Boston, Los Angelos and San Fransisco, but not in any Dutch town. They're too clean or too small. Most of all - too orderly.
Tijmen
P.S. I'll post photo's of La chartreuse and the other locations later - when they're developed which could take a few months as I have to finish the film roll first.
[last edit 9/4/2004 11:53 AM by IIVQ - edited 1 times]
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Comments: (use Reply to add a comment) Slim Jim
    
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Location: St. Paul, MN
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Total Likes: 117 likes
Maze is 100% done now!!! Someday when it's -10 out and the generators won't start I might upload th
 |  |  | Re: 2004-08-04 Liege, Beautiful Dirty City.
< Reply # 1 on 10/20/2004 1:21 AM >
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| | | Liège is a great city to explore in. I've explored La Chartreuse, Le Valdor (Val d'Or?), Le Hasard-Charatte, the abandoned Fort de Pontisse on the north side of town, and another abandoned fort on the south side of town that starts with a B. Glad to see you out there looking around. Combined with South Limburg, Netherlands, which is very close, this is one of the greatest UE areas I've been to - with the highest density of really good UE sites.
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