At the heart of Place aux Plantes there has always been the wish to restore the lost link with the plants around us — to find, and to pass on, that need for communion with them.
Along the way we have been very glad to meet a kindred spirit: Véronique Willemart, nature guide, who will lead the way.
What we look at
The last bees of the season, the ones still foraging when almost everything has finished flowering. Among them the ivy bee: a solitary wild bee that only appears in September and October, when the ivy is in flower, and that depends on it almost entirely. We learn to recognise it, to spot its nesting banks, and to understand why the ivy everyone pulls down is, at this time of year, one of the last larders in the forest.
The walk
A loop, setting off from and returning to the restaurant Plek, in Groenendaal. We aim for two hours, between contemplative wandering and moments of identification and learning.
For anyone who would like it, a group ride leaves at 9am from Cambre-Étoile: 8.5 km through the Bois de la Cambre, then the Sonian Forest.
Practical
Saturday 26 September 2026, 10am to noon.
Meeting at 9.45am at Plek, in Groenendaal.
A drink and a snack included.
€15 — free for under-15s.
The walk is guided in French.
Booking
Booking is handled directly by Véronique, at veronique.willemart@gmail.com. She will confirm your place and tell you what to bring.
Ivy bees are peaceable and have no interest in us, so we can watch them from close up. We simply keep off their nesting banks, so as not to trample the burrows.