Day Six: Train Ride To Luxy, Visited Luxembourg City Museum, and Descending Into Grund.

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After a stack of Vegemite on rye bread for dinner last night, preceded throughout the day with sweet pastries and a Club sandwich for lunch - I suspect the Club was Collingwood, judging from the taste - I was pleased to have covered the five main food groups ; coffee, sugar, salt, butter, and carbohydrates. I feel Olympic. Is that even a thing.

Don’t even ask why dinner was Vegemite on toast but it wasn’t the cook’s fault. Let’s just say, never buy smoked tempeh, and if you do, bury it deeper than nuclear waste, and under no circumstances attempt to open the packet. Tim tried to remove the tempeh from his serve, and then he ate it. I thought we brought him up better than that. It was inedible. Luxembourg has a very ridged rubbish separation system for recycling, but this failed to tick the boxes on any category. Tim did wake up with no side effects, and who doesn’t like Vegemite, so all is well.

Sue and I walked to the Station, via Babbos, and there was a train waiting at Platform 2 for us.

Now, all public transport in Luxembourg is free. That’s trains, trams and buses. That’s a great initiative and considering in Australia we tend to send a party of bureaucrats around the world on ‘study’ tours every time a change has to be considered, I’m expecting good news any day.

Funnily, while I can travel anywhere in this region for free, it’s 50 cents at the station to use the bathroom. Luxembourg might have done a study tour to Italy, where the only free bathroom visit is at a cafe you buy a coffee at, that you may not want, just to go to the toilet for free. I have no limit on the coffee I drink, so it’s a win win for me.

Now, back to the train. The ride from Esch to Luxembourg City passes through quaint revamped railway stations where the tracks are lined with houses and village shops, facing the tracks, all painted or rendered in soft pastel tones that help the time pass quietly. The villages are split up with rolling green pastures, new green corn crops, all tied together by tight clumps of forest, still waiting for autumn to bear them naked. Or should that be bare.

Luxembourg Station, or Gare, as us locals refer to it as, is a very significant building, and until you step out into the constantly evolving construction site called the City, it feels like one of those major stations in Italy or France. It has its own tower and everything is discoloured by years of grime and soot invading the stone; very European.
The relatively new, and expanding, tram system brings a new level of comfort and efficiency to city travel, and Tim tells me the plan is to extend it to Esch. Kaching ! Up go property values. Spoken like a true banker.
At Paul, a well known patisserie chain in Europe, we shared a lemon meringue tart and half a cappuccino each - no, we didn’t share one; that was the level in the cup offered to us by the girl. In Australia you might say, ‘ the tide was out ‘ on those drinks.
It was then a 15 minute walk to the museum, and as we passed Grund, set deep down in The Valley, I mentioned I’d love to go there later as it has a gentle, old world feel as you walk along edge of the canals, peek inside the buildings, well, I do anyway, and stop for something to eat or a drink at any number of cafes and pubs. Sue’s deteriorating knees warned her that they would rebel if she followed this idiot on one of his ill conceived ventures, but it’s hard to break a habit of 42 years, so off we went. My Scandinavian life coach, SELF, told me never to let anyone else stop you from achieving your goals, and SELF doesn’t like to be contradicted. His mantra is , Be Self - ish.
Sue did enjoy Grund. Elevator to the bottom of The Valley and back up, plus a bus back to the station. I feel I’ve let SELF down.
Grund is like walking through a miniature reproduction village set in the 1800s, but in full scale, with satellite dishes and signal equipment on the roofs. There’s a few pics so they’ll show you better than I will describe it. Same with the museum.
Tomorrow we are staying close to the base, packing and checking our gear for the Grand Tour. Hopefully this will become a bit more interesting for you, well both of us actually, and I’ll be able to share some of the beautiful parts of Southern France. We‘ll drop through the Gardens of Versailles, check out plenty of castles, visit Van Gogh’s most productive studio, the asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence where he painted Starry Night from his room window , and many more things. Have fun, Steve

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Photos

Morning Heart Starter
There was no chance of spilling those when bring them out to us,

Luxembourg Railway Station
A real surprise and a landmark of the Town. For me it’s a perfect staring point.

Our Lunch Wagon
Portuguese Food Truck. Serving pastries and crepes filled with chicken, champignons, and something green and spicy. Cheap, filling, and delicious. I love Street Food.

Pizzeria Bacchus
A little reminder of home.

Luxemburgués Archery Club Banner
Look closely .

Lady In a Painting At the Museum
Her face says it all.
“. I was framed !”
or
“ It was the dog!”

School Setting
Just thought I’d drop in a shot of my first calculator.

Guess Who Dropped In During The 1940s
During WW2, Luxembourg was annexed by the Germans, although the Luxembourg Government was still in power, but went into exile in London. Young men were forced to join the army, and the population who resisted were persecuted and did form a resistance movement.

Wedding Dress Made From An American Parachute
This fine piece of sewing, including the lace waistband, was made from a captured parachute.
The witty ( Well, I thought so anyway) caption I had in mind, never got passed the censor. Sad.

The Shell of Saint James,
From the 13th or 14th century, this shell has the holes that were used to fix the shell around their neck, or from a cape. They were often used as a spoon or drinking vessel. It is now the most common sign of the Camino De Santiago. The Way passes through Grund.

What did I say about the Camino?
Where’s my backpack?

Steel Wheels and Barely A Seat
In 1884, the first cycling club, ‘Veloce Club Luxembourgelois’ was formed . Imagine that bike on unmade roads. Ouch.

First Church at Grund.
St John Baptiste.
I often light a candle in these churches, but in the true spirit of a financial centre, this lot charge €5. No thanks.

Progress !
A future underground car park, probably

The Canal through Grund
It’s a bit like Bruge in a way.