Baraque de Fraiture

Baraque de Fraiture

The ski slope
Highest point
Elevation 652 m (2,139 ft)
Coordinates 50°15′04″N 5°43′55″E / 50.25111°N 5.73194°E / 50.25111; 5.73194Coordinates: 50°15′04″N 5°43′55″E / 50.25111°N 5.73194°E / 50.25111; 5.73194
Geography
Location Wallonia, Belgium
Parent range Ardennes

The Baraque de Fraiture is the highest point in the Province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Situated in the Municipality of Vielsalm, it is 652 metres (2,139 ft) high, making it the third highest summit in Belgium after Signal de Botrange (at 694 m or 2,277 ft) and Weisser Stein (at 691 m or 2,267 ft). It has a ski area comprising 3 pistes (350, 700 and 1,000 metres long), which open for less than 20 days a year. However, it has been open for up to 60 days per year recently.

Geography

La Baraque de Fraiture is on the ridge separating the Basin of the River Ourthe from that of the Amblève on the summit of the Plateau des Tailles consisting of grassland, countryside and forest.

Access

The Baraque de Fraiture may be reached via the Autoroute de Soleil (A26 / E25), exiting at junction 50 and turning onto the N30 (Liège–Bastogne) and N89 (La Roche-en-Ardenne–Salmchâteau).

History

During the Second World War, on 11 May 1940, the day after the outbreak of the Battle of Belgium, the Baraque de Fraiture was taken by Germans of the 5th Panzer Division[1] with the objective of crossing the River Meuse at Dinant.

In popular culture

In December 2005, Dutch playwright, Ivan Vrambout, put on a play entitled Baraque Frituur which featured the mutual prejudices of Flemish and Walloons. The title of the piece was inspired by the way in which this author, like many Belgian children, used the words Baraque Fraiture when he was a child when referring to a baraque à frites, saying baraque friteur (a friterie or chip kiosk) instead of fraiture (frituur has the same meaning in Dutch and French in this case). These friteries were usually mobile kiosks where traditional Belgian chips were sold in Belgium.

References

  1. ↑ Mary, Jean-Yves (2009). Le Corridor des Panzers, t. I, Bayeux, Heimdal, p. 121.

External links

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