Tour de Grand Est - leaving Luxembourg

It was hard to get out of the sleeping bag this morning. Rainy, windy and real feel of 7. Let's just say we were very happy to have an indoor dining solution for breakfast. 

Once we got rolling, the sun helped. First stop was to chat with some cows. 

The one cow was quite engaged in conversation with Marc, but the other one clearly wanted to chat with me 💗

This guy was not so sure about either of us, so best to stay uncommitted. 

We said our goodbyes and enjoyed the bike path.

!!!

The first small town we came to, we slowed as we approached a preschool, as they were all lined up and crossing the road. 

As we got closer we realized that not only were the teachers and kids crossing, but 3 little sheep too.

Seriously. Mary, is that you? 

"It followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day..."🎶

If you look closely, it looks like the sheep wanted to follow us 🥰. A fun way to start the ride. 

It was a very rural ride today. Not many villages, more forest and field. 

In the sun it was warm(ish) and in the shade it was cool, indeed downright cold at times. We had to stop and warm up in sunny spots. 

Not sure what these little bags contain, they were on the stakes at the end of each crop row at one of the farms we cycled by...any ideas?

I do love the town signs. All with the same image of buildings. When you cross the town line you see the town name announcement sign, and when you leave, you get the red line through it, like "been there, done that". 

It was a hilly ride today. 

Often the towns are on the river and so at the bottom of the hill. Messancy was definitely one of those. See the red dot on the elevation chart, that's where the town center was... 

Lunch was on the Church steps in another small village, across from the school. The laugher of the kids playing kept us entertained while we ate. 

After lunch we enjoyed scenic quiet roads, forests and smooth bike paths. But it was quite cold. 

The traffic signs are common across these countries. This one is my favourite, for sure. Don't you just love it! !!!

As we crossed into Belgium (we only knew because of the car licenses) there were memorials, memories of both wars are still very present here, and there was a Cdn forces base here for many years post war. 

We are camping near Virton, Belgium. 

We basically have the place to ourselves. 

It is a large campground but we have only seen two other families. 

We are planning the route for tomorrow. There are many hills in our future 🚴‍♀️

Good night and stay warm everyone. 

And some good night daisies. 

Photo credit note - the first photo of the blog today was taken by a random stranger. We were on a quiet road, not really close to anywhere. We had just climbed a big hill, Marc was waiting for me at the top, and we had a lovely view ahead.

There just happened to be a man walking along the road. And I just smiled and handed him my phone and asked him to take a photo 😂🥰 

Photo angel. 

Tour de Grand Est - A day in Luxembourg

We left the tent standing, didn't roll up or pack up, we just got up and got on our bikes for a day of adventure. Cheers to that!

We used Claude (AI) to help plan our route - "he" had us stopping for bakery snacks twice, plus lunch 🤣

After errands for camping gas and a new plug and cord for charging (old one died last night), our first stop on the historic tour was Pont Aldolphe.

The Adolphe Bridge (Pont Adolphe) is an iconic, double-arch bridge in Luxembourg City, spanning the Pétrusse valley. Originally built between 1900 and 1903, it features an innovative, suspended lower deck dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists that was added during a major renovation completed in 2017.

It is 153 meters long, and its central arches span 85 meters.

The Cycle Lane: The suspended lower deck features a two-way bike path and pedestrian walkway, providing a safe and scenic, traffic-free connection between the Gare district and the Ville Haute (Upper Town).

It was named after Grand Duke Adolphe, who ruled Luxembourg from 1890 to 1905.

It was so cool to cycle over and we basically had it to ourselves.  Very fun start to the tour. 

Next stop Place Guillaume II is a town square in Luxembourg City. The square is in the heart of Luxembourg's historic Ville Haute quarter. It is colloquially known as Knuedler, from the Luxembourgish language's word for "knot", referring to the knot in the belt worn by Franciscan friars.

At the upper city edge, looking down into the valley and the lower city (known as Grund), there is an elevator tower.  For tourists who are not afraid of heights 😳. It looks like a carnival ride with two elevators going up and the other two going down, crossing paths in the middle. 

All around the old city were beautiful buildings and squares and pretty high end shops.  

Luxembourg is a very rich country in terms of GDP, often being ranked highest in the EU.  The shops are impressive and I must say there are some very well dressed people here (not so much the cyclists, but the locals). 

At our bakery stop we sat at a shared table with some locals speaking Luxembourgish (first photo of this blog). It sounds like German, but also a little bit like English. They all speak a few languages including of course French and German, and English is everywhere too.  

At lunch we sat beside a group of three young mom's with their young babies. Of course photos of Josie were shown and baby names and tales were exchanged. One of the mom's (from England) asked me if I would hold her baby while she "went to the loo". 🥰

Back to the historical tour. 

The Cathedral, uniquely named Notre Dame (😉)

Sometimes the local guides have to have a little fun too 🤣

Notre Dame Cathedral is the Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, located in Luxembourg City in southern Luxembourg. It was originally a Jesuit church, and its cornerstone was laid in 1613. It is the only cathedral in Luxembourg. The church is an example of late Gothic architecture; however, it also has many Renaissance elements and adornments.

From the cathedral we were off to visit the old city walls / ramparts. Dating as far back as 963 AD, the city walls and fortresses were built by Spaniards, French, German, and any other invaders.  Stunning. 

Chemin de la Corniche is a scenic pedestrian promenade built upon the 17th-century ramparts of Luxembourg City. Famously dubbed "Europe's most beautiful balcony" by Luxembourgish writer Batty Weber, it offers stunning, uninterrupted panoramic views of the Alzette River valley, the historic Grund district, and the Rham Plateau.

We enjoyed the view from above and then we also went down down down along the cobblestoned road to the bottom.  You can see when we went down 👇

It was a cute little city down there, quiet and it had started to rain, so the streets were particularly quiet. One church - St Jean Baptiiste 

 

Cobblestoned roads up and down. 

Views of the city walls and the upper city. 

So many years of building and occupation etc. 

It was all a bit overwhelming. 

As we were looking for the way back up, we took shelter from the rain in this little tunnel, which had a display of shoe art. 

Surprise! At the end of the tunnel there was an elevator to get back up to the upper city! Who knew!? 

That was our historical tour (hope you enjoyed it). 

There was also the tour of today's Luxembourg.

Investment and construction, there were 10 cranes (the working kind) as we cycled out to the campground. Luxembourg is economically exploding. It is both a financial hub for Europe, and also a transportation hub - dozens of rail lines and huge warehouses. 

Luxembourg City serves as one of the foundational administrative seats of the European Union, hosting the Court of Justice of the European Union.

They are really rocking it here. 

 Also, they do a great job of reducing traffic...

It is nice to spend time here, in a vibrant city, that remains small but very much alive. 

We have enjoyed two nights at our campground too. The services are impressive with a common area for tents campers, with a frig and microwave and kettle, fuzeball, book library and plenty of tourist information too. Nice to have a warm place for breakfast too, with the temperature dropping below 10 for several nights in a row now. 

Saying good night as the rain starts to fall on us, and the thu see starts to roll.

Sleep well.