Liege is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the administrative capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, near Belgium's eastern borders with the Netherlands and Germany, where the Meuse meets the Ourthe. It is in the former sillon industriel, the industrial backbone of Wallonia. A city at the crossroads of Northern and Southern European culture. Liège is an old industrial center which faces the challenge of adapting to the 21st century. Liège is also the city of GEORGE SIMENON (1903 - 1989), the creator of police detective MAIGRET. Simenon was a very prolific writer. His enormous literary production has been translated everywhere in the world. He wrote hundreds of novels and stories, both under his own name or under a pseudonym. In 1931 he started the series of Maigret stories. Of humble beginnings, he has become one of the most popular novelists of the 20th century. Nowadays Liège is a rapidly changing city where old meets new. Take a walk through the old city center and discover the typical traffic-free alleys and shopping streets where terraces abound. Visit the central St. Lambert square where a new modern Liège is growing. Take a walk alongside the banks of the majestically flowing Meuse river and see Liège from a distance.