Destination: Luxembourg.
But why don’t we make a couple of stops first?
Since we were driving down and had no real schedule or hurry to get there, we decided to stop in Bastogne and check out the war sites. There was a very important battle there during World War II. You can read about it here (or watch Band of Brothers like I did).
It’s a small town with a lively center, war museums, monuments and woods dedicated to those who died there. The woods were a nice place for a peaceful picnic, although I thought a lot about all the fighting and dying going on in that forest not so long ago. Madness. I hate wars.
Then we went for a free guided visit of the Barracks where the American Headquarters were. It’s a two-hour tour, which is worth it if you really love history. Our guide spoke English and French and I understood very little of it all – he spoke fast and it was like he stressed all the wrong syllables. He was proud of having met the veterans: “He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘If you have another war, I’ll come and fight for you again’.”
But why don’t we make a couple of stops first?
Since we were driving down and had no real schedule or hurry to get there, we decided to stop in Bastogne and check out the war sites. There was a very important battle there during World War II. You can read about it here (or watch Band of Brothers like I did).
It’s a small town with a lively center, war museums, monuments and woods dedicated to those who died there. The woods were a nice place for a peaceful picnic, although I thought a lot about all the fighting and dying going on in that forest not so long ago. Madness. I hate wars.
Then we went for a free guided visit of the Barracks where the American Headquarters were. It’s a two-hour tour, which is worth it if you really love history. Our guide spoke English and French and I understood very little of it all – he spoke fast and it was like he stressed all the wrong syllables. He was proud of having met the veterans: “He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘If you have another war, I’ll come and fight for you again’.”
The real Band of Brothers
It was such a hot day and we had seen on the map that there was a lake on the way, which turned out to be paradise on earth! Lac de la Haute-Sûre is for sure one of the most amazing places I’ve seen in my life. We cooled down, relaxed and kept going. That’s when the gps stopped working and we got ourselves to our hotel in Luxembourg the old-fashioned way: following a map and road signs (pretty bad there, by the way). But I have to admit it’s a beautiful place to be lost in.
The city itself is not fantastic – we only walked around two evenings and felt like we saw all there is to see. Old center beats new center a thousand times! It’s beautiful, historical and it’s where the good food is. The new center is for stores and overpriced, low-quality restaurants.
On Sunday we drove down to Schengen, where the treaty was signed and the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg meet. Walking through borders was something I’ve always wanted to do and could finally check off my list. We crossed the bridge and we were in Germany. Then we turned right, walked for about 10 minutes and got to France. How cool is that? Too bad the borders meet on a river, so you can’t actually stand on them.
Bridge sign in Schengen, Luxembourg.
 Apach, France. |  Perl, Germany. |
What I miss about this trip is that we didn’t find a place to eat typical local dishes. On the other hand we were surprised to hear Portuguese all around. There’s even a radio station and tv channels. Watch out, Luxembourg! Those people have a knack for colonizing.
