Life in de Luxe Lane...

After resting up for 2 days at the village of Aumuhle near Mainz in Germany, we drove the short distance to Luxembourg to meet up with Jo and Julien (J & J). For the first time in our German travels we were on a road that was largely non-motorway and the German drivers' road safety skills were a revelation, (being totally non-existent).
For fair periods we were in queues behind heavy vehicles, with passing lanes only every 5-10 km or so. But that doesn't stop your average Kraut. They would literally overtake whenever they felt like and we watched horrifed as they did so approaching blind corners, crests of hills and in the face of oncoming vehicles. It was a miracle they didn't kill themselves or some other poor wretch.

One other gripe with continental travels through Germany and now Luxembourg has been the swarms of wasps that are attracted to the scent of humans, particularly if they are consuming any sweet food or drinks. We walked to a cafe near Aumuhle for brekky and were swamped with wasps but quickly ate and drank and left to walk home. On the way, we passed huge areas of wasp nests in the road verges and wondered if they can possibly be controlled.

The problem isn't as bad in Luxe but is still quite annoying.

As shown when one of our friends dropped in for a cocktail. (Iris is so used to them that it was fished out and the drink consumed as though nothing had happened).

An interesting feature that we noted on the motorway in Luxembourg was "Wild Brucke" or Wild Bridge. These are bridges across the motorway in forested areas to allow wild animals to cross at certain points without the obvious risks from the traffic (and vice versa). The bridges are densely covered by trees and shrubs and allow the animals to remain concealed as they cross, what a neat idea!

Once we got into the vicinity of the capital it was quite easy to find the suburb we were looking for but finding our campsite was quite a trial for our Satnav, (Maud), who continually tried to direct us down a blocked lane and thereafter in circles back to the same spot. At one point we stopped by a 15th century roadside shrine and went walkabout looking for the (at that place) non-existent site, which according to Maud was right there.

Shrine but no campsite!

 

However, I think Iris must have offered a prayer during our brief stay, for shortly afterwards we found road signs, (about 2 km away), directing us to the local camp, which we found on our second lap of the village. The site is the best we have stayed at so far. It is modern, spotless, has great wifi, showers are free, the pitches are huge with private hedges and it's only 16 Euros a night. We might stay here for ever.

We made arrangements to meet up with J & J and caught the bus into Luxe and had time for a drink and some people watching in the main square before dinner. Highlights of the people watching included a very boorish woman who decided that she would film a homeless man sleeping in a doorway and who thought it was a huge joke when he got angry with her. May several wasps fly up her skirts!

We then went into the local restaurant quarter for dinner, where there are a large number of restaurants to choose from.

The "Table of Pain" was not for us however.

The restaurant that we picked had a very eclectic menu but despite the range of available dishes we all ended up with our own choice of "flambe" which is a local type of pizza, on very thin crust, with toppings of your choice.
I was a bit cheesed off because I thought flambe was something that they set fire to at your table, but no such luck. The good thing about all the different choices was that we could swap pieces and try all the dishes though. The meal was rounded off with apple pie and ice cream and then we went back to the camp for hot chocolate with Baileys. J & J had left their car outside the camp gates (luckily) as when they came to leave the front gates had been closed and the pedestrian exit was also closed. Fortunately the catch wasn't locked so they didn't have to climb the 6 foot gates.

The next day J & J returned to show us round Luxembourg City. Julien lives about 15 minutes away and as a native Luxembourger could show us the best bits as it were. Although the city is quite small it has a long and interesting history and is now ruled by a "Grand Duchess" who lives in a palace that is in the centre of the city, with no apparent security or protection, except for a single guard who seems to pick whether he stands at the front or back of the palace. (He was at the back door when we walked by). He also appeared to be very short sighted, judging by the thickness of his glasses' lenses.

The Luxembourg Parliament building is attached to the palace building, presumably so that the Grand Duchess can keep an eye on them.

Parliament behind the flags with the palace to the rear of this photo.

The city now includes a lot of European Union facilities and buildings and we had a quick visit round some of these including the place where Jo used to work when she was working for the EU.

Jo's old home away from home!

 

 The EU centre is in a very modern part of the city but Jo's building backed onto a park that included the fortress of "Trois Glands". This was designed by a French fortress builder called Vaubin who, (in the 17th century or thereabouts), was the most sought after fortress builder in Western Europe, (fashions never change do they?)

 

We'd seen signs on the motorway, when driving in from Germany, about visiting "Trois Glands" and I thought at the time it was something advertising a place you might go for body enhancement or the likes. But it turns out to be no more than a reference to acorns. (Glands = Acorns in French apparently).

 

 

JJ&I in front of les Trois Glands, one golden acorn on each tower.

 

 After leaving this district Julien took us for a brief drive through the area where he said the "Tax Cheats" lived, where there are large numbers of so called tax consulting companies located, plus the EU headquarters of companies like Twitter and Google. Luxembourg is a country where local tax laws allow companies like Twitter, Google, Amazon etc. to shuffle their revenues from the various EU states to minimise paying their taxes, (if they pay them at all). It was a typical city area a bit like Canary Wharf in London, with the usual bland city buildings and boulevards. I did spot a McDonalds McCafe tucked away in the ground floor of one of the flash skyscrapers though.

 

We then moved back to the old city areas and enjoyed some of the parks and green areas that are plentiful.

 

 



This chap was tucked away behind the EU buildings and for some reason, has a crown that is far too big for his head, perched loftily above his fancy wig. The plaque, that was attached to the bronze, described him as "Fernando Sanchez Castillo, Bird Feeder".

Well, if that's all you have to do to be immortalised in bronze in Luxembourg, I'm going to buy some bird seed.

 

A bit further through our sojourn, we came across this fine example of the sheep family. New Zealanders take note of the latest advances in Ovine Opthalmology and get your sheep's eyesight checked. Now!

 

 

Before you enquire further, I have absolutely no idea what this carved head represented or why it was there! It could of course be a Mormon sheep seeing as the glasses are made of stone.

 

We continued our stroll, (or had it become a trek by now), across the city, going up hill and down dale. The city is built on two sides of a gorge and unfortunately for strollers, what goes down must come back up the other side. What is really nice, is that a lot of the old town and riverside areas have been preserved in the middle of the modern city.

 

 

 

A view across the gorge and an old Abbey, that is de-consecrated and used for other things now. The bridge in the centre is about 600 years old and is still in use as a footbridge, (as we found out when we walked down, across and up the other side.

 

We had time for a family pose overlooking the old town:

 

 

Before a quick visit to the cathedral:

 

 

 

Before finishing our tour at the national war memorial. People don't usually think of Luxembourg as a significant combattant in either of the world wars but of course they were overrun by Germany in both and the coutry's neutrality ignored.

 

Thousands of Luxembourgers overseas signed up to serve with foreign armies. About 4000 Luxembourgish nationals served in the French army in WW1, of whom over 2,000 died. The Luxembourgish volunteers are commemorated by the 'Golden Lady'  memorial which was unveiled in Luxembourg City in 1923.

The original memorial was destroyed on 20 October 1940, during the Nazi occupation as it had symbolised the rejection of German identity and active resistance against germanisation of Luxembourg. Pre-WW1 Luxembourg had been closely aligned with Germany and on several occasions almost became a province of Germany.

After World War II, it was gradually rebuilt, culminating in its second unveiling, on 23 June 1985. The plaque on the memorial makes specific reference to the men who served in the French Foreign Legion during the first world war.





Shortly after we visited the memorial, the rain set in. Not heavy but a very wetting drizzle, so we adjourned to the camp while J & J went home to make us dinner. They picked us up at our site at about 6pm and we went off to Julien's flat on the other side of the country. We passed signs warning us that we were about to cross into Belgium but detoured east at this point to avoid an international incident. Despite having crossed almost the entire country the journey only took about 14 minutes. We had a lovely meal in Julien's new apartment that was a really nice, architect designed place overlooking the Luxembourg countryside. 

 

Today we plan to visit a place, (I don't know where it is) where 4 countries converge (Germany, France, Luxembourg and Belgium). Hopefully, there will be a picture of me with a limb in each country at the same time, (still attached to my body of course). But that will be another story.