Luxembourg and its sparkling green

Voir en plein écran

 

Day 1

75 km, 800 D+

Luxembourg - Vallée des Sept chateaux - Echternach
You know...the Duchy of Luxembourg is not only the city of Luxembourg. 
Its 999 square miles of green! 
I have got the chance to see only a little bit. There are many more Natural parcs to discover and villages to ramble through, castles to stare at and let feed your imagination. 

The national trail of the Valley of the Seven Castles follows the meandering Eisch over 37km. On my road, castles everywhere. It's a feeling of mistery to it..i loved them, but in a way felt sad that most of them where in a very bad shape. Lots of effort from the contry is put into giving them a lift and helping hand, to make up for the ages of neglect. 

1. Koerich Castel;
2. Septfontaines Castel;

3. Ansembourg Castle and its most beautiful gardens;

Forget me not! Millions whispering forget me not, forget me not...Have you ever seen a full clearing full of them?I could have got lost among them, so beautiful. Only honeybunch was missing. Places like so give you plenty of ideeas :D aaahhm :p

4.Hollenfels Castle with a nice little hostel overlooking the castle.

5. Mersch Castle;

 Larochette Castle;

and entering the fantastic Mulerthal region.

           Schiessentumpel waterfall           

                                 

 Echternach - the oldest town (created around St. Willibrord - patron saint of Luxembroug - and their monastery)

 Echternach

Base camp at Ecthernach, on the bank of the Sûre river. 

Day 2

79 km, 1400D+
Ecternach - Luxembroug's little Switzerland (the Mulerthal region) - maybe Mullendorf

Mulerthal region, also called the Little Switzerland; No wonder! Kilometers of trails await for hungry feet (112km to be precise, but be free to wonder).

A place where I could spend ages. This was just a taste of it, and hope to get back there soon. The hiking trails are for all the family, very well maintained, landscape changing many times, a really great place to discover.

 - mullerthal-trail;
 - La gorge du loup, a must!;

and away I go.

 and other trails near the road, many short circuits to choose from.

 - I followed the Piste cyclable de la Moyenne Sure, ici. 

 Beaufort Castles (i have to say I appreciated the offered tasting of Cassero at the end of the visit:), so kind;

 

Beaufort Castles from MR FILMS on Vimeo.

 Brandenbourg Castle

Bourscheid Castle, that I have loved most;

sur la piste cyclable de la Moyenne Sûre

There are so many, that I forgot which one is this

Base camp in papusoi; A few km before entering Lux

Day 3
maybe 20 or 10km to Luxembourg city centre

 At the gate

 Palace of the Grand Ducs

Bock casemates. 

Besides the casemates, Luxembourg has had fortification upon fortification upon fortifications modified upgraded thanks to the influence of all people that ruled in the region (romans,spanish,french, austrians and so on). Undestroyable. Now in the UNESCO list

Luxembourg Philarmony Hall, a thing of beauty

On the Kirchberg plateau  besides de europeean institutions, Philarmony you can find the Musee Drai Eechelen and MUDAM

Yet another trip to remember

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, well it has a been a grand surprise. For me and my heart I'll say is the best bike trip I have got the chance to do so far. Mostly beacause of it's greenes and security while on the bike, on the road (many cycle lanes and roads to choose from). 

I shall encourage you to discover and read more about its history, but I was mersemrised. In my mind, I see Luxembourg, a meltingpot, Babel, Europe before Europe, the crossroad.

But what fulfilled me the most was the forest and it's freshness. It's difficult for a person living in the suburbs of Paris to get in touch with nature, the way i used to do a while ago (back then nature was my second nature). So the moment I escape, the colors are brighter, the sun is warmer. But this green was from elsewhere. So I tried to find a word to better represent this color... still don't know how to call it...explosive green? raw or naked green, fresh green or sparkling green?

Any ideeas?

I've done this trip in May. i've started writing only now...and while looking for information on the web...I've realised it's autum and that the sparkling green must have transformed and the forest must be rainbow at this time of the year, I can just imagine opening my eyes and waking up in the autumn light.