Not surprisingly,therefore, this part of Belgium suffered the onslaught of German troops in both World Wars.

A hundred years earlier and the conflict was between Napoleon on one side and the British and Prussian armies on the other culminating in the defining victory at Waterloo, just south of Brussels, in 1815.

Visitors to Southern Belgium, otherwise known as Wallonia, will find themselves in a region that has suffered conflict and devastation. The scars, memorials, museums and cemeteries bear testament to many years of loss of life on a massive scale.

That the countryside and its inhabitants have risen above those times of tragedy to make it as beautiful as it is today is a tribute to human endeavour and perseverance.