Luxembourg

View to the lower part of the town with the crazy cliffs

Luxembourg was a surprise to me. I had never really had that much of a desire to go there, I think I kind of thought it would be like Brussels, a rather clinical, boring town, full of big buildings and empty streets.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was almost Parisian, with a dash of Dutch austerity.  We were staying in a very fancy hotel right on the Place des Armees, which is the main square in the old part of town.  We barely ventured out of the cobble stoned area.  The houses looked very French, and the food was definitely French, but the streets were so clean and everyone felt really rich.  So much less French in that instance, perhaps a bit more like the Swiss.  It is a funny little country, only 80kms long, and yet it felt that there was a lot to offer.  I think I could definitely live there if the need (or opportunity) ever arose.  They have a region in their country called Little Switzerland after all!  Though to be fair, the highest mountain in this region is only 414m high, I think to the Dutch people settling here it felt like Switzerland, to the Swiss, probably not so much.

The organ in the church - with oddly placed camera

We went to a really nice restaurant whilst we were there as well, Le Bouquet Garni, which has a star, so we booked in advance.  And it's a really nice restaurant, very cozy, not many tables, with lovely exposed beams and a view out to the cobble stoned street.  It was all very nice, with great staff who made you feel so relaxed and at home.  I was the one who booked the restaurant, so I knew how much the various menus were.  But then when they gave us the menus in the restaurant, only Dave's had prices on it.  Aaaah nothing like a bit of casual sexism.  I guess Luxembourg is still living in the olden days.

The most hilarious thing though was an elderly couple who came in later.  We were enjoying our lovely meal, having some wine and just having a great time.  Then these two showed up, without a reservation, and they had the most sour faces I have ever seen.  They were given the only table remaining, which granted was a little smaller than ours, and without a street view.  But the way they carried on, it was like they had just been dealt a mortal insult.  The sense of entitlement those people had was unbelievable.  I've never met anyone like that before, what sort of life must they have led to think that they have so many more rights than anyone else in that restaurant.  It sure put a bit of a dampener on the mood, I kind of wanted to have a go at them for carrying on like they were.  But then probably best to steer clear of such crazies.  So apart from that couple, the food, and wine, and service and ambiance was all perfect.  Would definitely eat there again, just if you are a woman, make sure you check the prices before you go in.  I wonder what they would have done if two women were dining together?

The river through the town - often flooded in the past

Weird art in the monastery - the skyline looks familiar

We, of course, did a walking tour, because how can we not.  And as usual it was pretty good, and surprisingly run by a local.  A lot of the time in non-English speaking countries it seems that you end up with other outsiders running the show. What made it so sweet was that the guide obviously loved Luxembourg so much, they couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  They took us round to this little shop where in the window there are all these weird ceramic birds, painted in various ways.  Apparently this is a thing in Luxembourg.  And then amongst the birds are photos of the royal family.  She was a real monarchist this tour guide, which I thought was quite touching, at least the way she felt about the family, quite protective.

The town had that great feel that you can get in only these tiny, rich countries.  In that the Prime Minister would often be out and about whilst the tour was running, so would come out and speak to the participants.  And there is no security to speak of, we all gathered in the courtyard of the government buildings, and you wouldn't have even known it was the centre of administration.  Even the Duke has been seen at restaurants when he's staying in town.  It's a much different feel to the UK or Australia, where you only get close to the leaders under very artificial circumstances.

Apparently there are at least 3 languages spoken in Luxembourg, the usual are English and French (they seem to be the most common), but they also have their own language, Luxembourgish, which I didn't realise.  I didn't really hear anyone speaking that, but apparently if you go out into the countryside most people are speaking that, and no English at all.

Massive vase near the court

The town itself is really interesting from a topological point of view.  You have almost two old towns, one is on an escapement behind battlements, and looks seriously hard to invade.  This escapement pokes out into this strange promontory, where they used to have their castle.  The escapement is serious cliffs, there's no way you could scale it.  Then at the base of this you have the river and what used to be the very poor part of town.  Mainly because the river used to flood a lot and it was all quite pestilential, but now it looks like a really nice place to live.  They have sorted out the flooding issue.  This flat bottomed valley stretches for quite a bit and then you have another escapement, this is where they have all the EU buildings and the banks.  It's a good idea, because they keep their lovely historical old town untouched, and yet you get the view over to these really fancy, interesting buildings.  It is certainly a town where there feels like there could be jobs.  And you would be right in the middle of Europe too, which has to be a bonus.