France is very close for us Belgians. We usually went to the Ardeche.
The region around Verdun, la Meuse, was totally unknown to us.
We were there in the summer of 2022. It was a very hot summer then and we were on our way by bike.
We ended up on a dead-end path and a meadow.
Meadows were bone dry which made us feel like we were on the savannah in Africa.
I know you can't compare this to Africa at all but the dry grass and the two trees and the heat created an African atmosphere.