With Folon around Waha

In Marche-en-Famenne, follow the signs 'Waha 1050' to the charming Saint-Etienne church (V), the oldest Romanesque church in Belgium, which is also worth a visit after the Folon 2008 year for radiant stained glass windows (open from 9am to 6pm, see www.eglisesouvertes.be). Put on sturdy walking shoes and take into account the hunting season (sometimes you are not allowed to enter a piece of forest). Along the way, you will come across the arrows of the regional walks n°3 Capucine (red) or n°6 Lupin (blue), but always in the opposite direction. Keep the church and shop La Halle aux Fringues to the right and left of the paved road Rue du Maquis downhill, past the listed 17th century half-timbered farm Ancienne Ferme Moureau 1. At the top of a roundabout with a stone statue, then left in the rue de Hedrée. A little further you take the rue Saint-Etienne diagonally to the right, whose asphalt in front of the houses becomes an agricultural road. Almost at the top of the hill, with mega views, you let cyclists drive straight, but you go to this junction on the right, descending slightly between meadows and fields. At the crossroads a little further, you ignore the path to the right towards the sports fields and advance diagonally (No. 6 on the pole). By this cart path you reach the village of Marloie. In an old water tower 2, you find yourself from rue Charles Henin on the busy chaussée de Rochefort (with shops and taverns). Turn left on the sidewalk until the first traffic lights and then left on the Chemin de Malinchamps. This paved road leads you up the hill, towards the forest, in front of a Marian chapel with benches and the cemetery. Ignore the back roads and turn left into the forest. Beyond the houses, it becomes a gravel forest road. Beware of the hunting season: a sign (Hunting, forbidden passage) on a tree on the right indicates the dates when you are not allowed to cross the forest (±1 km). Descending a few hundred meters gently, you have to go sharply to the right. It can be pretty muddy here. Then immediately left on a narrower path (see arrow No. 6) and keep left. Once out of the forest, a grass path takes you back between brambles and meadows to civilization. The path becomes paved and you exit this rue Trinchevaux at a crossroads. Here diagonally to the top of the hill. Continue to follow Rue de Hedrée. Almost at the top, you can shorten by turning left Bel Horizon, but then you miss the most beautiful views. At the very top of the plateau is a brand new shelter 3 with rest benches. Enjoy the huge panorama all around. Leave the asphalt and hut on the left and take the stony country road to the right of it. In a large loop you slowly descend the hill. Ignore a sign for Le Clincheigneux on the right and turn left. Here too, the arrows of step n°3 and a cycle path tell you that you are following the right route. With a view of a large farm and wooded hills, you find yourself on a T. Take this paved road on the left, slowly climbing uphill, passing the farm and a little further the umpteenth chapel of the road. On the right in the distance, traffic ignites along the N4. Almost above, turn the asphalt to the left, towards the shelter. But you take the path between the trees diagonally to the right. At the top of the plateau you come to a stone crucifix and a bench on a T. For a detour through the fields and new gardens of Waha, take the asphalt on the right and immediately after the left turn the path, towards the white houses and pylons (step n°6). Take the paved road to the centre of Waha on the left, passing through Bel Horizon (see above). Continue straight on Rue du Thier down the steep hill, with the church tower as your guide. At the next crossroads, with chapel and bench, the rue du Petit Bois comes from the right, with which those who followed the detour also resume. Further down the slope, by the rue du Gros Wari, to the old town and the Place de l'Eglise, where the stone monk prays under the old linden tree.