Bois de La Cambre, Brussels
The Bois de La Cambre is the preferred spot for Bruxellers in a sunny day. It is an urban public park on the edge of the Sonian Forest in Brussels, Belgium and it has an area of 1.23 square kilometres. The park also feature a pond, a closed street for rollerbladers, and plenty of paths to get lost in. Lots of joggers run along its sidewalks, a full lap is about 5kms.
For those who were always tempted with rollerblading but never bought one and never dared trying, there is their occasion: you can have free braking classes on Saturdays and Sundays from 12.00 to 17.00 at the Carrefour des Attelages (look for a shop called “Twin”). And to reward yourself for the effort, you can always get an ice-cream from the van nearby the pond.
The park was laid out in 1861 by Edouard Keilig, a German architect. Queen Marie-Henriette, wife of King Leopold II, often went riding in the park. The horsemans’ battle bronze group at the entrance is the work of Belgian sculptor Jacques de Lalaing.
In 1877, the chalet Robinson was built on the lake’s island. The chalet was destroyed by a fire in 1991. The decision has been made in 2006 to rebuild it and it was scheduled to open to public again in summer 2008. The surface of the wooden building will approximately 300 sq meters, with a restaurant on the ground floor and a ballroom on the first floor. An electrical ferry boat will link the island to the shores of the lake. The main road around the lake has been closed to traffic on Saturdays and Sundays since the 1990s.
