Across the pond

I have started to work through Stevens and Van der Swaelmen’s 𝐺𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑢 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑎 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒̂𝑡 𝑑𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑠, produced by the Ligue des Amis de la Forêt de Soignes, first published in 1914.

It offers a fascinating glimpse into the past, as well as into the character of Stevens himself. There are many photos in the book, and I thought to do a series of then-and-now juxtapositions accompanied by Stevens’ notes. I have used ChatGPT to sharpen up the images a little; the colour photos are mine.

Les Étangs Abbatiaux de Groenendael.

Le Petit Étang et le Prieuré

Au fond, le restaurant : château de Groenendael ; à droite, perdu dans la verdure, le pignon d’une jolie construction ancienne, devenue maison forestière.

Elsewhere in the text Stevens notes that the restaurant was once the residence of the last Prior of Groenendaal. This étang is now called the Putselvijver, then it was just the Little Lake.