Easter - Luxembourg City, Moselle Valley

Day 5

Today we woke up in Luxembourg City. The city is situated on the cliffs of the Petrusse and Alzette Rivers, which converge in the centre of the city.



Cobble-stone town squares, with well kept buildings and plenty of Luxembourg flags flying.



Looking down the Petrusse, at the Viaduc (bridge). The Petrusse is the smaller of the two rivers, and it is more like a creek.



The view from Viaduc looking back up the river.



Pont Adolphe (another bridge) and Place de la Constitution (gardens and flags).



Liam and the Pont Adolphe.



Us, the Pont Adolphe (again!), and Place de la Constitution.



Alzette River is more substantial and it is lined with parks, bridges and buildings as it winds its way through the gorge. The church is Neumunster St John's.



Another view of the Alzette River.



Kelly at a 'window' of the Bock Casemates.

The Bock Casemates are in the Bock promontory of the gorge surrounded by the Alzette River. A castle was built on the top of the cliffs in 963. Over the years it was built up by the various conquerors (Burgundians, Spaniards, French, Austrian's and Germans) and it eventually became known as the "Gibraltar of the North". They are a maze of damp rock rooms and passages carved into the cliffs by the Austrians around 1740. The caves were used to house armies and weapons and was used as recently as WWI and WWII as bomb shelters for the locals. They really are amazing to see because it would have taken so much work to carve them out.



One of the busy market streets of Luxembourg.

That afternoon we left Luxembourg City to head to the Moselle Valley. This is one Europe's smallest wine regions, and it is also one of the prettiest. The Moselle River sweeps through the valley and also forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany.



Kelly contemplates the German side of the river.



Liam had his big beer and Kelly has her big champagne. Since it was Easter Monday, the caves or wine cellars (rock wall behind Kelly) weren't open.



St Martin is one of the popular wineries of the area. They make a good glass of bubbly (cremant) and some white wines. The winery has a nice eating area that is only a road width away from the Moselle River. Quite a relaxing place to have a glass or two!



The vineyards stretch right to the edge of the road all along the valley.



More vineyards.



A panoramic view of Luxembourg.

So ended our stay in Luxembourg. It was a pity to leave such a beautiful country after only two days. We started off on our long trip up to Brussels, which included an hour and a half of crawling along the highway through roadworks. Eventually we made it to Brussels and our accommodation, after nearly driving through the pedestrianised town square.

Continue to Day 6...

Easter - Luxembourg

Day 4

The next leg of our trip took us through the small, tucked away country of Luxembourg. It is a beautiful country with many gorges, forests and cute little towns. We started in the north where the the Ardennes cross Luxembourg.



First stop was the town of Clervaux. The town consists of a church, castle and a monastry on the hill above the town.



The castle, perched in the middle of the town.



The benedictine abbey of St Maurice. The monks here are well known for their Gregorian chants. Luckily we arrived in time to see a service taking place in their chapel. The chapel has excellent acousticis and the monks' chanting sounded wonderful.



Outside the benedictine abbey of St Maurice.



Next stop was the very small town of Esch-Sur-Sure. The town has a population of approx. 240 people and the Sure river runs directly through it.



The Sure River.



One of the few streets of Esch-Sur-Sure and a view of the town from the castle ruins. The three pictures below are different views from the castle. The castle was built in 927 and is currently being restored. In the third photo you can see what is left of the castle today.







This was without a doubt the most beautiful town we saw in Luxembourg. Vianden has many narrow cobble-stoned streets and the stunning castle you can see in the picture.



The Vianden Chateau (Castle) and the streets of Vianden.



The castle sits very high above the town.



Liam's beer ad! And our first taste of Luxembourg beer.

Tonight's accommodation was to be in a hotel that we booked in Luxembourg City Sud. The name makes it sound like it is in the southern part of Luxembourg City, right? As it turns out it was actually 12km out of the city, so instead we stayed in a hotel near the train station, which actually is on the south side of Luxembourg City.

Continue to Day 5...