Blogs from Bastogne, Luxembourg, Belgium, Europe

Today was lovely day. We woke up to some delightful Fall weather. After breakfast Ray headed out to pick up our car which was parked on a nearby street. Not sure if I mentioned that the parking on the street was free from Saturday until Monday morning at 9:00 am. While he was gone I struck up a conversation with the concierge regarding the parking situation in Strasbourg. He said that normally the street parking was $35.00 for three hours. You pay for it at one of the stations located all around the city And you input your license plate number. If you should need more time, you must move your car to another location. They purposely make it difficult to encourage people not to drive into the City. He also said that he pays an ... read more

This morning I drove south from the Waterloo area into the heart of the Ardennes region of Belgium. My goal here was to visit Bastogne, the town where the American army, led by the 101st Airborne Division, held out against the last major German offensive in the West - what has come to be called The Battle of the Bulge. There is a restored Sherman tank on the main square in front of the tourist information office (see picture) and a lot of the town's economy is based on Bulge tourism. I visited the new and well-done Bastogne War Museum which recounts the entire history of WWII with a Belgian slant and with a large section devoted to the Bulge (see picture). Next to it is the American Memorial which is impressive for its large size ... read more

Between Maastricht and Bastogne, we traveled through the Ardennes region of Belgium. The Ardennes is a hilly region of thick forests and was the scene of heavy fighting in World War I and World War II. In August 1914, the German army advanced into Belgium though the Ardennes--an unexpected move owing to the forests and that Belgium was officially a neutral nation. In December 1944-January 1945, the Battle of the Bulge was a surprise German counteroffensive through the forests in winter weather. Today the forests remain in this rural part of Belgium, often obscuring views from the A26 Autoroute. Bastogne, Belgium, is a quiet town today. Historically, it has been a prosperous market town deriving its income from dairy and forest products from the Ardennes. But it has been the nexus of conflict in both World ... read more

It looks like changeable weather doesn't just exist in the UK. After enjoying a good nights sleep on a real bed after our hectic first day on the continent where we had gorgeous sunshine, we arose to rain belting down out of the sky. Looking out of the window at torrential rain dampened our sprits just a bit. Thomas had gathered the ingredients for an amazing continental breakfast with lots of brotchen (bread rolls), smoked ham and kase (cheese). The rain had stopped and sun was shining down on us. Great. We'll walk up to the hill above Thomas' place to the revolving restaurant and see if we can get some pictures. We started out and quickly removed our jumpers, as the blazing sun was quite warm. The hillside was covered with trees and someone a ... read more