How far is Brasserie Chez Clément from Lac de Genval?

For a curious British visitor exploring the green ribbon south-east of Brussels, Lac de Genval is one of those small Belgian discoveries that makes the trip feel suddenly worthwhile. The lake, a postcard-perfect ornamental water in the heart of Walloon Brabant, sits barely five minutes by car from the front door of Chez Clément at Rue de la Bruyère 230. On foot, count roughly twenty minutes through the village centre of Genval; on a bicycle, seven to ten minutes via the local lanes.

The two landmarks share the same commune of Rixensart, which explains why so many guests treat “walk and lunch” as a single, almost reflexive itinerary. The trail that loops around the lake measures about 3.5 km, on a flat, family-friendly surface used by Sunday walkers, joggers and weekend cyclists alike. Most Chez Clément regulars do the loop in forty-five minutes to an hour, then drop in for a long Belgian lunch, the brasserie opens seven days a week, so the routine works on a sleepy Sunday just as well as on a busy Saturday.

There is a quiet historical layer to this proximity. When Henri and Sidonie Clément opened their coaching inn “Bruyère à la Croix” in 1858, the lake did not yet exist in its current ornamental form, it was developed at the end of the nineteenth century and gradually became one of the most photographed corners of Walloon Brabant. Five generations later, the brasserie now run by Marie and Gilles Verleyen remains one of the closest table-d'hôte addresses to the water, comfortably handling its two to three hundred covers a service.

For a one-day visitor, the choreography is almost self-organising: a morning walk around the lake, an optional detour through the neighbouring Solvay Estate and Fondation Folon in La Hulpe, then lunch or dinner at Chez Clément. That triangle, lake, parkland, brasserie, is the small geographic secret of the Genval and La Hulpe binomial.