9 – 12 June
The journey from
Duelmen was much better than the journey there. The motorways were
quieter and we arrived at Camping Officiel de Clervaux
www.camping-clervaux.lu
in Luxembourg mid afternoon, where the weather was scorching hot.
The Dutch owners are very helpful and friendly (perhaps a little
over-enthusiastic – Meneer immediately wanted to get us settled on
our pitch, we wanted to do stuff at the service point!). It is a
“full on” site, with more amenities than we would generally
choose to have (including a fair size swimming pool, but guess who
didn't think to bring swimming gear!) However, the location is
lovely, nestling in the valley of the River Cleuve, with the abbey
looming above. The small river runs through the site, at the edge of
our pitch actually, and its babbling is very restful.
However, there
is some railway noise from the trains, which pass three times an
hour, and from the abbey bells morning and evening; the monks may
want to be summoned to Matins at 7.00am, but we don't!
It is about a twenty
minute walk to the railway station and we decided to travel to
Luxembourg City for the day. The journey time is given as 52 minutes
and the ticket price is only 4 Euros each return, which also includes
any bus journeys you might like to make in the city. Bargain! The
plan started to go a little awry when we discovered at the station
that there is engineering work on the line this week, resulting in
about a third of the journey having to be made on the bus. However,
this only added about 20 minutes to the outward journey.
We had not been there
long before we had an encounter with potential pickpockets; a man
asked us for some directions and I suddenly became aware of a female
lurking behind us. Fortunately all our valuables were safely secured
so no harm done.
We walked past the cathedral of Notre Dame
and along the
Chemin de la Corniche, hailed as “Europe's most beautiful balcony”,
winding along the course of the 17th century city
ramparts,
then through the Cite Judiciaire and down the steep zigzag
path from the Old Town to Grund, where there are numerous cafes to
tempt you. We poked our noses into the Neumuenster Abbey and admired
the Bock Casemates on the other side of the river, a honeycomb of
rock galleries and passages, which were originally carved by the
Spaniards in the 18th century, since which time they have
been used, for example, to house bakeries and to shelter local people
in the two world wars.
From there we took the elevator back to the
Old City where we could hear some beautiful music and assumed it was
a recording being relayed from somewhere. It turned out that there
was a street piano being played by a young lady, who, when she had
finished and we complimented her, said she was still practising the
piece!
After that we passed through Place Guillaume and photographed
the Royal Palace, a beautiful building, whose location does not to it
justice; then it was time to head back to the station.
The journey back was a
nightmare! The next two trains were cancelled and then an
announcement directed us to a bus outside the station. This all
taxed our rusty French somewhat! So it was one bus to Mersch and a
second to Ettelbruck followed by a half hour wait for the train back
to Clervaux. Were we glad to get back to the campsite!
After some relaxation on site the next morning we set off to explore Clervaux. There is a viewpoint
which gives a good view of the town including its castle, parish
church and abbey.
The castle's main attraction is Edward Steichen's
world-famous photography exhibition, “Family of Man”
www.steichencollections.lu.
The collection comprises 503 black and white, mid-20th
century photos from 273 photographers from 68 countries. They are exhibited in themes and follow man from birth to death with images from all corners of the globe, illustrating how various experiences bind people together, wherever they are in the world.
and along the Chemin de la Corniche, hailed as “Europe's most beautiful balcony”, winding along the course of the 17th century city ramparts,
then through the Cite Judiciaire and down the steep zigzag path from the Old Town to Grund, where there are numerous cafes to tempt you. We poked our noses into the Neumuenster Abbey and admired the Bock Casemates on the other side of the river, a honeycomb of rock galleries and passages, which were originally carved by the Spaniards in the 18th century, since which time they have been used, for example, to house bakeries and to shelter local people in the two world wars.
From there we took the elevator back to the Old City where we could hear some beautiful music and assumed it was a recording being relayed from somewhere. It turned out that there was a street piano being played by a young lady, who, when she had finished and we complimented her, said she was still practising the piece!
After that we passed through Place Guillaume and photographed the Royal Palace, a beautiful building, whose location does not to it justice; then it was time to head back to the station.
The castle's main attraction is Edward Steichen's world-famous photography exhibition, “Family of Man” www.steichencollections.lu. The collection comprises 503 black and white, mid-20th century photos from 273 photographers from 68 countries. They are exhibited in themes and follow man from birth to death with images from all corners of the globe, illustrating how various experiences bind people together, wherever they are in the world.
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