Luxembourg

Luxembourg ‘s defining geological feature are 2 impressive gorges that meet where the river Petrusse and Alzette join. The Luxembourgians built forts atop the gorges to defend their homeland and even built defenses into the cliffs. Although the city was apparently destroyed 22 times, it is an independent country now with its own heritage. As part of our official reason for visiting we spent half a day at the European Court of Justice. In the hallway was an art exhibit of cartoons about justice, so it was nice to see that they have a sense of humor! We heard from a woman who is the head of the English translation division. They employ a large number of translators who have backgrounds in comparative law and can translate into 3-4 languages of the official 22 possible languages. Never occurred to me that could be a career in law.

On our own we explored the city following parts of the touristic Wenzel route up and down the gorges to see the fortifications, plants and animals. Not too many animals except a heron and pigeons. The old part of town is far more interesting than the area near the train station where our hotel was. That area is full of less expensive stores and nightclubs. But it is convenient for travel to be near the station and the hotel was fine (Hotel Nobilis). The old part of town though is where you have squares surrounded by cafes, historic buildings and parks. We ate at a very nice restaurant called L’ Bouquet Garnis the first night since Jake had a taste for pate that night. The pate came with a spicy (cloves and vinegar) relish of apple and pear. I had another repast featuring morels, this time a white fish in a morel cream sauce with fresh peas and asparagus. I managed to ask the server (with advance coaching from Jake) in French whether morels were found in Luxembourg. She checked with the chef and indeed these were the last of the season’s morel harvest from the country.

On Friday night we had dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant on a street leading down to the gorge. Excellent thin crust pizza and a large salad with bacon and a fried egg on top (typical of French salads).

A note on finding tea in Luxembourg after 6 pm – most patisseries close at 6pm and the coffee machine is sometimes closed down earlier. Brasseries can be smoky, so we found that hotel cafes or the cafes on the Place des Armes were the places to go for that late afternoon tea and snack!