Luxembourg! October 6 & 7

 October 6 - On to Luxembourg!   It is our 5th country and the 4th one we have never visited before.

   

  We had an eventful start to the day. We set off nice and early because we knew that the big Marathon in Lyon was going to disrupt the busses, but we thought we'd beat that. We were at the bus stop around 7:15. But, the sign said that the bus would be delayed an hour. So, we called both an Uber and a taxi company for a ride, but both said that none were available. So...we walked to the train station. Luckily for us, we had over an hour to get there. It was drizzling, but not raining. (It was about 1.3 miles so not that long, just that we had thought that the bus would get us there and we had not planned to walk.)

 

   It was our first time ever on a TGV high-speed train. We were on the upper level. The train got up to just over 322 kilometers per hour, or around 200 miles per hour. But, it was so smooth that we didn't feel the speed. We stopped 7 times before arriving in Luxembourg after about 6 and a half hours. We had no food or drink, so we were hungry and thirsty when we arrived.

   Somehow, we managed to get on a tram going in the right direction to where we are in another pedestrianized area.

All public transport in Luxembourg is free which is nice. We walked to Hotel Vauban, a small 17-room hotel on Square Guillaume II. There was a market going on in the square when we arrived.

   

 

   We checked in (4th floor with an elevator for part of the way) and then went right out to eat. We ate at a Thai restaurant which was pretty standard and then began to wander. We found the royal palace where Grand Duke Henry lives; he is mostly titular, but had to give it up recently because of his opposition to euthanasia. 

       There is an old town and an older town, in my opinion. We are in a rather old town, but the truly old town, dating back to the 900s is mostly down in the chasm far below. We walked to overlooks, but chose not to walk all the way down after our long day. We had a nice decaffeinated coffee (not always easy to find in France) and sat on the square before heading back to the hotel.

October 7

   

      We had a lovely breakfast which is included in the room fee here. It was a baguette, croissant, salami, cheese, yogurt, juice and coffee, so more than ample!

    

      First, we expected a full day of rain today which is one reason we took so many photos last night. But, the storm vanished and we had a lovely day with period of sun and a temperature that climbed to 64 degrees. No complaints!

      We spent the morning in the Bock Casements, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a series of underground tunnel fortifications started in 1745. Many of the galleries provide views over the valley and lower town. It was very uneven walking and the lighting was not great, so not easy for us.  Note: "casemate" is derived from the Greek word for "chasm" 

  

       The Casement contributed to Luxembourg being considered one of the most envied fortresses in Europe. They changed ownership over the long period of Luxembourg's history; Italian, French, Belgian, Spanish, Austrian, Dutch and Prussian engineers all contributed to the fortifications over the centuries. There were eventually 23 kilometers of galleries and some galleries were carved to a depth of 40 meters (about 130 feet). 

     In 1867, the fortress was evacuated and some of the casements were dismantled when Luxembourg was neutralized. The dismantling took 16 years and the casements were reduced to today's 17 kilometers. The rest could not feasibly be dismantled because that would damage the city. 

     During the two world wars, they could provide shelter to 35,000 people.

 

  

    Midway through our tour of the Casements, we climbed down a narrow, uneven stone spiral stairway of about 80 steps. It was challenging for us both, Barbara with her "night blindness" and Mark with his wobbles!  And, what went down, had to then go up! So, a little way along, we had another 80 stairs to climb of the same ilk.

    In all, we climbed up and down about 391 steps. 

      Afterwards, we strolled. We found where our city bus leaves tomorrow for Amsterdam. We did a little shopping. Barbara got a t-shirt from the Tourist Bureau and Mark got two shirts at a department store. We ate at La Boucherie. Mark - a cheeseburger; Barbara- cold salmon salad. More strolling. Coffees in the square near us. 

    A really great "rainy" (NOT!) day.