I'm still on the quest of discovering as many cool places as possible close to home. At first because Covid doesn't make it easy or smart to go to other places, but also because there is so much near you which you always wasn't aware of. This is the perfect reason to give some more gratitude to the cool spots closer to home.
On this stop: D'n Flaes. A nature area between Reusel and Netersel just next to the Dutch/Belgian boarder
The forest
For me currently one of the most important things for going for a walk is if it is quiet enough with not too many other people and if the dog can run loose freely. That last part if a bit of a debatable one actually, because dogs should actually always be on the leash. This always because of when encountering animals in nature, they might get scared away because of the dog, and also because of the faeces which the dogs leaves which might make them leave their natural habitat. Luckily my dog listens quite well and he is always around 5 meters from me, so I dare to let him walk freely in these kinds of forests.
The funny thing about the forest is that around every corner they look different. Here you see some old pine trees which almost seem as if they had caught fire. But on the other hand their tops are still green so they are still alive.
In other parts there was a lot of vine forest, so different scenery every kilometer. Worth the walk!
The water
After a round of walking which you can make as long as you would like you have this nice reward of this little lake from some beautiful water action.
There are all kinds of little islands in here with trees on it which makes me wonder how deep the water actually is. I expect it so be really shallow which also makes it prone to bacteria growth, but also for swampy situations. It looks beautiful, but I surely would not take a dive in there. I also tried to keep the dog out of drinking the water, because it is so shallow. Apart from that, he had the time of his life ;)
The Watch Tower
At the back side of the lake you can find this iconic watch tower up which is called 'D'n Flaestoren'. It is like an observarty where you can go up and have a good sight of all the surrounding. A bummer on this is that you need a 1 euro coin to open up the gate. A 1 euro fee for maintaince seems super reasonable to me actually, but reality is that in Holland nobody has coins on them anymore because everything is payed digitally. So no going up for me!
But apart from that it is cool to see what they have made out of wood. I hope it stays there because it is really iconic. On the side of this they have also put some additional info signs of routes, biking routes, nature stuff and everything else you need to know. Cool for giving the kids some info tour in here as well.
And after that...a well deserved break
When you finish walking your nature route, in the heart of the forest there is a cabin where you can get something to eat and to drink called 'Dn Bokkereyder'
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In this easy going place expect nothing fancy but just you easy beverages like soda, beer and coffee and on the dinner side their specialty is omelets and some sandwiches. I like it that they keep their menu small. Nothing fancy just big production but what they pump out, they do fast and good.
The menu card is kind of funny actually. If you look at it and don't understand a word of it - that is possible. It is written in full dialect, and you have to pronounce everything out loud for you to understand. I guess even the people from the city here would have difficulties with it. But to me because I come from this Southern region, this is actually kind of funny.
A must visit!
Walking around in the 'Flaes' area is nothing fancy, no elevation and nothing super spectacular. But it is calm, peaceful and beautiful actually and it does deserve a bit of your time when accidently bump into here on an easy day.
For getting your nature fix (and I guess this would even be more sweet on a snowy day) this is surely a go to place.
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