Sunday 28th July 2019
Ray had secretly made plans with one of our boys, Richard, to pop over to Luxembourg for the weekend and surprise me on our arrival at the campsite yesterday and his planned worked! I was suitably shocked 😉
Richard was staying in a little boutique hotel, the nearest one he could find to our campsite and we enjoyed a great meal with him last night and even decided to treat ourselves to an overnight stop too!
After breakfast in the hotel we headed off to Minette Park, Fond de Gras to take a look at the tourist steam train, ‘Train 1900’. Luckily for us the train operates every Sunday from 1st May until 28th September, as well as few other days during the year.
The Fond de Gras area was an important mining centre for iron ore in Luxembourg and after the closure of the mines, several volunteers made it their mission to work together to preserve part of the railway line.
Train 1900 takes passengers on the 8 km ride from Fond de Gras to Pétange or vice-versa. We opted for the first class carriage. Although the scenery along the journey wasn’t much to write home about, for those of us old enough to remember steam rail travel, it brought back fond memories.
As well as Fond de Gras and Pétange, you can visit the village of Lasauvage and Saulnes and even take a tour of the old mines on the Minièrsbunn mining train. There was a large exhibition hall at Fond de Gras and the open air museum provides plenty of historic steam locomotives, carriages and railway memorabilia to enjoy. On the day we visited they were holding a vintage car rally in the centre too.
On a good day, weather wise, you would probably enjoy the whole experience more.
Onwards and upwards we made our way back towards Luxembourg City and hoped the weather would improve. Having never visited Luxembourg I had no preconceived expectations.
First stop was a walk up to enjoy the views from the ramparts overlooking the Grund quarter, which is situated in the Alzette valley below the centre of the city. This area of the city is now one of the least populated areas and is traffic free. It is a popular, trendy night spot but also maintains its cobbled streets, walls and buildings from the 14th century.
The Bock Promontory is in the city’s old district and is a natural fortification. The rocky cliffs tower above the Alzette below and to appreciate if fully you need to see it from the river level.
As we enjoyed the views we noticed that the UNESCO World Heritage Bock Casemates entrance at this location. If you have time this should definitely be on your list of places to visit.
From here a walk along the promenade the Chemin de la Corniche is very popular and will take you from the Bock Promontory to the lower part of the Holy Ghost Citadel, the Rondellen.
There are two elevators which connect the upper and lower sections of this historic area and certainly make a change to walking. The Grund elevator connects the Plateau du Saint Esprit and the Grund and the ultra modern panoramic elevator connects the Pescatore park located in the city centre to Pfaffenthal at the bottom of the Alzette valley.
A short walk from here brought us to the Ville Haute passing the Église Saint-Michel and into a pedestrianised area where we stopped for lunch.
Within this area were several buildings and monuments of interest including the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, the Grand Ducal Palace, the Monument of Remembrance, nicknamed the Golden Lady and the City Skyliner, the world’s highest and most modern mobile observation tower, which was only in Luxembourg City from June 29th to August 18th in Place de la Constitution.
Despite my fear of heights, I was persuaded to ‘give it a go’ and although I remained seated during the experience I wasn’t disappointed and could easily see most of the sights from my sitting position 😉 Superb views despite the overcast weather.
You enter the circular fully enclosed viewing platform and are then transported 81 metres vertically, whilst the platform turns slowly on its axis and you enjoy the panoramic views of the city below and in the distance. As it turned out, the €7 entry price was well worth it, despite my apprehension.
My apologies for the photos. Ray did do a video but unfortunately it got deleted, so my photos have to suffice.
Later that evening we bid farewell to Richard at Luxembourg airport and made our way back to Krounebierg Campsite.