Panoramas in Etikhove

Go to the Flemish Ardennes at the old town hall of Etikhove (V), district of Maarkedal. The old City Hall is now the administrative centre of the amalgamated municipality and there is plenty of parking space. Leave right along the Etikhoveplein towards the church and turn right before the church into Puttene. After 200 m, turn right, continue straight ahead of the OCMW building, then left and go up into Onderbossenaarstraat. Walk right at the top of the T-junction (Bossenaarstraat). Here, on the left behind the greenery is Villa Tynlon 1. The most famous inhabitant of the villa was the painter Valerius De Saedeleer, who was the central figure of an artists' colony here in the 20s and 30s of the last century. Ignore the Langekouter. After 300 m, where the road turns left and climbs, stands the Hof at Kattebeke 2. According to ancient writings, the court already existed before 1517. In 1842, the owner at the time founded a wine shop there. The Thienpont family is today an internationally known name in the wine industry and owns, among other things, some of the best and most renowned castles in the Bordeaux wine region. Ignore the Fortstraat on the right and walk further up the Bossenaarstraat. Also a little further at the intersection straight. The Bossenaarstraat becomes Poesthemstraat and curves to the left. Walk next to house number 6 (after the green gate) on the right and walk down a wide field road. Enjoy the magnificent panoramas of the Flemish Ardennes. At the T-junction, turn left and again at the next T-junction, then straight until you reach Vlaamse Ardennenstraat. Walk right and after 40 m left into Bosketse. Where the asphalt turns left, continue straight on a narrow path (pedestrian exit sign 44). The path winds between meadows and fields, becomes a wide field road and eventually asphalted. Turn left onto the single-lane concrete road. Along the road there are some beautiful chapels for the next kilometers. Leave the Beukelweg and walk 350 m further, at the intersection where you leave the Delfdries, always straight into Markette. On the left is Molenhof 3, a beautiful white brick farmhouse with the miller's house. The associated Sukkeleirsmolen stood across the street until the beginning of the last century. Also leave the Bierweg and continue in the Markettestraat to Leideveld. Here turn left and after 40 m right into Gorisveld. At the fork, choose Hokelbeke on the left, direction Kerkem and exit 47. Continue straight, ignore an exit on the right, and after 500 m turn right and go up into the Bovenstraat. A little further away is a restaurant with the beautiful name Het Genot op den Berg. The Bovenstraat leans a little further to the left and soon you will see the Bossenaarmolen in front of you. At the end of the Bovenstraat, you turn right along the Aatse Heerweg (the attention street has a different name on the spot). However, it is worth taking a step a few hundred meters further to Bossenaarmolen 4. This closed-foot pile mill, already mentioned before 1452, was restored in the 90s. From the mill you also have a beautiful 360° panorama of the Flemish Ardennes. Retrace your steps and enter the Aatse Heerweg. Ignore a secondary road on the right and continue 100 m to the fork on the left (Bossenaarstraat) and soon descend into a hollow road. At the bottom of the hollow road, about ten meters after the bend, take a country road sharply to the right. After 350 m (and about 50 m for a white factory building), turn right onto a one-lane concrete road towards exit 75. After 200 m there is a narrow path on the left, still towards exit 75. Pass here to return to St. Brixius Church and Valerius De Saedeleer Administrative Center.