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Published: October 8th 2007
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Crumbly view
A couple of girls perched on a crumbly wall as viewed through a crumbly window. We rented a car for the weekend and set out with a plan to explore a little more of Luxembourg and see one castle in particular in Belgium. By the time we got going this morning, got the car, situated the girls in the car and scoped out the map for the eighth time it was almost 10am. We set out towards Luxembourg and the little town of Esch sur Sure. We anticipated about a 2 hour drive; what we didn't anticipate was Abigail puking two times on the way there. Ugh. Luckily she warned us and didn't get herself too messy. The girls entertained themselves fairly well on the way there between books, food, mp3 players and Leapster games. The scenery was beautiful all along our ride, but especially as we approached and entered Luxembourg. The rolling hills and changing leaves (though by no means as impressive as autumn in New England) were unbelievably picturesque. We arrived right at noon, passing a big playground on the way with promises to stop on our way out of town.
The town of Esch sur Sure is, as the name suggests, surrounded by the Sure river. It sticks out like a peninsula
Eliza and Jonathan
There was a lot of fun to be had climbing over rocks and finding little spots to play in. Eliza, with a little help, made it to this perch to hang out with Daddy. and the river provides a natural moat for the fortifications. The town was incredibly cute and very quiet. I expect that during the tourist season it is packed with visitors. We had a nice lunch by the banks of the River Sure and then a short hike up to the ruins of the castle. The castle dates from 927 and the town below truly is one of the quaintest towns we have visited. The castle was a true "crumbly". Emma, in particular, had so much fun exploring the castle and playing on the stones. We scaled walls, poked through windows and doorways, and balanced on ledges while we explored. Once sated we returned down the way we came and came across a bride and groom being photographed (the girls loved this of course). We walked down the road and found a cafe for coffee but then discovered more steps leading to a different part of the ruins. We decided to do coffee afterwards and climbed up 118 steps to the top. We found a great lookout tower with more natural rocks to climb on and an amazing view of the aforementioned ruins. Spectacular!
We climbed back down and had
View from the tower in Esch
The ruins crossed several hilltops. We went to this tower after we had explored the ruins on the hilltop across the way. coffee while the girls snacked on frites and ice cream. As promised we took them to the playground over the river to play. Jonathan and I once again consulted the map and guidebook and realized that our next destination would be closing in an hour. We cut the play time a little short and pushed on to Bourscheid. It was an amazing drive through little towns, over hills, and past many, many large windmills. We found the Chateau du Bourscheid without much trouble at all. It is, as the guidebook promised, specularly situated on a hillside overlooking an incredibly green valley and peaceful river. This castle was only part crumbly, as part of it had been restored. Still there was plenty of scrambling over stones and some amazing views of the environs. The core of the castle is the oldest section and it is surrounded by a 14th century wall dotted with circular towers.
We had some thoughts about continuing on to another site but figured it would probably be closed by the time we got there. Additionally, anticipating another long day of driving tomorrow and even more sightseeing we thought we should get home and get the girls
Tower in Esch sur Sure
Abigail spent a lot of time climbing on the rocks while Emma, Eliza and I climbed up the tower. You can see us in the top window looking down. to bed. Abigail and Emma both fell asleep at some point on the drive home, but not Eliza, who sang her "no baba" song most of the way home. Got home around 7pm and found parking not too far away. Cooked up some hot dogs and precious mac and cheese for the girls while we relaxed over some Belgian beer. Tonight we will indulge in our latest splurge: MLB on line. Hey, the Red Sox are in the playoffs we have to show our support!! Last night we watched the 4-0 win from the other night and tonight we will watch last night's game (we don't know the results). And tomorrow, more castles around Belgium!
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