La Thiérache is a rural, mainly wooded region. It is also a frontier area, with its fortified churches and its wartime penetration line through the Ardennes. In recent decades, the major roads and railway lines linking Paris and Brussels, which once crossed it, have moved westward. In this European redeployment, the Thiérache is trying to be more than the greenbelt of an urban, densely populated northern Europe. With a very personal touch, Daniel Michiels captures this nature full of vibrant hedges, running water and sites marked by history and legend.