Luxembourg
It’s been a whirlwind since we first arrived in Germany and not just because it has been a stressful overseas move. Joel is set to leave us next week and I felt urgency as soon as we landed to make some memories with him here. I asked him to pick a place he wanted to go and then I picked a few things, too. Denmark was his trip — of course he picked where Lego was born! My trips with him have been to Strasbourg, Brussels, and most recently Luxembourg. All places I lived as a missionary myself 20 years ago. It was incredibly meaningful to me to share these places with him and the very special memories I have of the people and places there.
For our trip to Luxembourg, it was just Matt and I and Joel which made it even more special. We left our three younger kids at home with a sitter and drove the three and half hours to Luxembourg. It is such beautiful country to drive through as we passed through the southern Moselle area with miles of vineyards that are currently heavy with grapes ready to harvest for wine.
We stayed at the Hotel Parc Beaux Arts, literally right behind the Grand Ducal Palace in the center of town. It dates back to the 1500s and was such a fund place to stay, right in the middle of everything we wanted to do and see. There were definitely some white knuckles getting there, however, as maps directed us to some pedestrian paths and impossible “roads”. We eventually found our way to the hotel, put on our emergency flashers while I checked us in, and then the hotelman told us they would guide us to the parking spot.
Tricky driving kind of comes with the territory when you’re driving in any European city you’re not familiar with, but this was a level 10 on the crazy stressful scale, to the point that we all started laughing. After we took our bags to our room (again laughing at the 1-person sized elevator), we came back out with the hotelman to park our car. Our eyes got big as he pulled out a measuring stick to make sure our car wasn’t too big (we were driving our smallest, tiny car and it barely cleared the requirements). Then we did a 20-point turn 😆 to turn around and drive just a few feet to tiny elevator door in the side of a building. Again, laughing at the comedy of this whole scene and our bewilderment.
The elevator door opened and the hotel man instructed us to drive in and that he would meet us later. The door closed behind us and down we went in the car. Once the opposite door opened, we slowly pulled out into a small, tight holding area. The hotelman met us there and instructed us to pull in our side mirrors and slowly drive onto two tracks on a circle in front of the car. There were mirrors to cover every angle so we could make absolutely certain that our car was precisely lined up.
Then we put on the parking brake and got out, backing into that small holding area. A clear door then closed in front of our car, the small platform that help the car spun around, and WHOOSH! The floor opened up and the car dropped down 5 stories and disappeared underneath us. It.was.wild!
Matt turned to me and said, “I hope you weren’t planning on driving anywhere because we are not doing that again while we are here!” 😂
The view from our room when we arrived. This is the tiny pedestrian street our car was at. The building on the left is where we drove it into the elevator that parked it underground.
And here I am getting the shot! 😆
One of the amazing things about Luxembourg now is that ALL public transportation is free since 2020, so we were set. Luxembourg has grown a lot since I left in 2002 and the city has 215,000 people that commute in from France, Germany and Belgium everyday. With nowhere to build parking garages (except 5-stories down) the country highly encourages everyone, including tourists, to use their public transit. And it is nice! Super easy and efficient to get around.
Our first night we walked to Place D’Armes to find somewhere to eat. There is a lot to pick from but without a reservation we went with a recommendation from our hotel that we could pop into. Matt and I both speak French but it’s always funny when we are trying to remember together. The waiter shared the specials and Matt heard “scallops” with pasta so Joel ordered that, eager to try something new for him. But when it came out, it was definitely not scallops, but an escalope which is veal. It was SO good. We laughed at our misunderstanding, and again had to recall how to ask for the check when our meal was done.
Dining takes FOREVERRRR here which is so different from how our American culture functions. I love it, but also always feel awkward when we’ve stayed soooo long and we have to find someone to ask to pay. I need to get over it. Eating out here is a beautiful thing and I know I just need to plan more time to enjoy it.
The next morning we walked to an amazing bakery. So amazing that they asked me not to take pictures. Matt was embarrassed and pretended not to know me, bought his pastry and left 😂. I promise I’m not weird to travel with! I laughed. How was I supposed to know it was not cool to take a picture of the bakery goods?! It was more like art than food. We bought a croissant pretzel with almonds, a pastry with apples, and a classic pain au chocolate. It’s the messiest I’ve ever been eating breakfast which is the sign of really, really good pastry.
We then headed to the place where the main transit stops used to be in town looking for a statue that I remembered, and hated, from when I lived here. The transit hub was completely different with 3 tall modern buildings and a Saturday market taking place. A German man who spoke perfect English stopped to ask us if we were lost and Matt asked him about the statue. It is affectionately called the Nana by the Lux people, but is named Le Grand Tempérance by the artist. I didn’t really hate the statue, I just thought it was so modern and out of place, and I saw it every single day I lived there. It came to be a symbol of my time in Luxembourg. I remembered when I lived there that there had been a small shop that was selling museum replicas of the statue for well over 100 euro, and being a poor missionary I didn’t buy it. Coming back now I secretly hoped to see it and find that small replica to buy, but no luck. The man who stopped to help us let us know that the statue had been moved into storage years ago when they were redoing that transit stop area. He wasn’t sure where it had been moved to.
Feeling bummed, I whipped out our old city tour guide map and we walked a guided route through the old city to see the historic monuments, buildings, the Grand Ducal Palace, Shrine of St. Michael from the 1500s, the old churches, the Balcony of Europe overlooking the Grund which is so picturesque. It’s truly one of the best look outs in all of Europe. We walked around to see the churches and Cathedrals and then stopped at a small market to grab some lunch.
The Grand Ducal Palace. This is the section that dates back to the Renaissance.
This large laughing head was on an old building right behind the Palace. It was so out of place and I am trying to find the story of it.
“Wait mom, let me take a picture of you taking a picture!” And Matt jumps in to take a picture of that. This is St. Michaels Shrine, the oldest shrine in Luxembourg on the oldest religious site. The original church dates back to 987. How it is today dates back to 1688.
And then just a few steps away from St. Michaels is this! Luxembourg natural topography made it the ideal strategic military fortification and much of these walls date back to 963. Just beneath these cliffs and fortified walls are the Casemates, over 40,000 square meters of tunnels deep beneath the city.
The view from the opposite side.
Here you can see St. John’s church with the abby to the right and an old military hospital dating back to the early 1800s just behind.
A perfect example of what you see everywhere in Luxembourg —the very old (stone building oat the bottom), the “new” (from the late 1600s to 1800s), and the modern (from the 1900s to now).
We laughed about this one. Every tattoo shop I have seen here in Europe so far fro Germany, Belgium, Denmark and now Luxembourg, has a name in English. This one was on Rue du Saint Esprit so it makes sense.
Cathedrale de Notre Dame
Someone was practicing the organ. Perfect timing to visit!
I had to take a picture of the violinist 🥰
Matt wanted to find a French bookstore and then afterward we hopped on a short bus to go see where I had lived and where our church building used to be. If you want to get off the bus at a certain stop you have to press a button that signals the driver to stop, otherwise they just keep driving on to the next and the next. Matt was by the button but I don’t think his button worked and the bus flew by, and I started to panic and feel bad. The rain had started pouring down and I was thinking about all the walking we would have to do.
Eventually we came to a stop, pulled out our umbrellas and then just had a short 10 minute walk back to where we intended to get off. No big deal. And it was good for me to “walk” down memory lane in a way. I was surprised a few times as we explored how vivid some of my memories are of the places we were walking through, and also how totally unfamiliar some places looked that I had walked a thousand times! Memory is a fickle and funny thing. When we got to the building I knew it immediately. My eyes welled up and my heart swelled. I grew a lot in this place and many faces were flashing through my mind of people who were so kind to me, and those who I had such sacred moments with. The building where our church group met is now a kindergarten building.
In the last 20 years, our small French-speaking branch has grown into an English speaking full congregation and another smaller Portuguese branch. Fifteen percent of the population of Luxembourg is Portuguese speaking with many, many coming from Brazil. It is amazing to me! I reached out to my Brazilian friend I had met there and to my surprise she is still there. I hope to see her another time when I can visit.
We made our way back to town and visited the Luxembourg history museum that was right next to our hotel. It is a free museum of some incredible artifact collections that have been found in Luxembourg dating all the way back to the Iron and Bronze ages. I was so impressed by all the Roman artifacts with full mosaic floors from the Villas they have discovered through archeological digs. Luxembourg is too beautiful it is no wonder that there was so much Roman wealth and civilization here.
That night we made a reservation for a traditional Luxemburger and French food restaurant. It was in a medieval era building and the food really was so good. Traditional Luxembourg food is comfort food to me. They do amazing stews, soups, and a special pork and beam cassoulet. I noted a recipe for the green bean soup and made it as soon as we got home. We also ordered des cuisses grenouilles (frog legs 🐸🦵). Yes, they do taste just like chicken and all that butter and frying, they were really good. I couldn’t eat more than one though. Something about all my early morning walks on the country roads when we lived in Texas and seeing SO many frogs squished dead from cars.
Am Tiirmschen, for traditional French and Luxemburgish food. It is in one of the oldest buildings in Luxembourg right next to our hotel.
The old words on small tower on the building to the right, where the restaurant is, say, “we want to remain what we are.”
We made sure to buy dessert from the posh bakery from the morning and had that waiting at our hotel after dinner. You can never go wrong with layers of chocolate pastry, light mousse, and fresh raspberries.
We were set to leave the next day. Our breakfast from the hotel was brought up to our room and was impressive. Local sausages, Gouda, fresh baguette and yogurts, fresh orange juice and hot chocolate, and eggs. Amazing.
We had one thing on our agenda before retrieving our car out of the underground abyss — Matt had found out where Le Grand Tempérance had been placed and it was a short 10-minute walk away. I was weirdly so excited. Again, tears. Not because she is beautiful art to me, but what she takes me back to. No small replicas were available to buy, but I found her and that was all I needed. She is now placed on the grounds of a small art museum, Villa Vauban, that houses my favorite eras of art from the latter 1700s through the 1800s. We had the place nearly to ourselves to see such beautiful art from Dutch and Luxemburger artists up close. It filled my cup.
I’ve never forgotten her! Le Grand Tempérance
We went back to the hotel, retrieved the car in one piece, and then drove a short 10 minutes to go to church. We were disappointed though because the building was locked and no one around. It must have been a regional meeting that day in Nancy, France, so we missed everyone. We did run into two great guys in the parking lot who were also there visiting. They were professional sports mascots and travel the world for tournaments and games. One from New York and the other was a member of our church from St. George, Utah, which just happens to be where Joel is headed on his mission.
As we left, we had two more places to stop before driving home — the American Cemetery in Luxembourg from WWII, and it’s neighboring German Cemetery. I had been there before and wanted to share it with Joel. We have been watching Band of Brothers with him at home so it would be more significant and real for him. I was totally overcome with tears and sobs. It is just such tragedy and so heartbreaking to see. There is a solemn reverence there. My heart breaks remember that most of those over 5,000 men buried there were just young men between 18-22 maybe. They fought and died in Luxembourg at the Battle of the Bulge in a decisive battle at the end of the war. I am grateful that our country takes such good care of these sites and that they are visited by so many. It is a very humbling and moving place.
“In proud and grateful memory of those men of the armed services of the United States of America who in this region and in the skies above endured all and gave all that justice among nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace.”
Equally sobering is the neighboring Sandweiler German Cemetery just 1km down the road. During the war as the Americans were gathering those who had died and documenting their names and details, they also chose to do the same for the Germans that had died in that area. They even went through some mass graves left in the area of German soldiers to identify and properly bury them in their own cemetery. Most of the markers there have more than one individual named. Over 10,000 were ultimately buried here. I was happy to see it better cared for than when I had visited 20 years ago.
The drive home was as beautiful as ever and we were happy to be back to our home and kids and doggo. Not so happy to jump right into a new busy week! Truly, I am so grateful to just be here, to have these opportunities with my children, to see different ways of doing things, try new foods, and feel a deeper connection to our history.
When I left Luxembroug all those years ago, I had the opportunity to return immediately for an internship in banking there, which I turned down. I chose to marry Matt and I am so glad that I did. Our life together has brought us back here and it feels like a dream. I will never take it for granted.
xo
