Nearly two months after we visited, Luxembourg City is still an amazing place to think about. The Cathedral Notre-Dame is awe-inspiring and the entire city warrants volumes to be written. After letting Will run around and explore the grounds outside the Cathedral, we continued on our self-guided tour of the city. Turning left up the Rue de la Congregation, we stopped at Congregation Church. One of the many Protestant churches throughout the city, it was built between 1739 and 1742. Coming immediately from the Cathedral, the interior design was a stark contrast to the overwhelming ornateness of the Notre-Dame or St. John's which we'd see in a few hours.
Next up was the Place de Clairefontaine with its Monument to Grand Duchess Charlotte, prior to weaving our way through several adjacent streets and pausing near the History Museum of the City of Luxembourg.
A brief aside regarding the architecture of the city--the whole thing is a fortress. The image that came to mind was the White City of Gondor as described by Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings. There are concentric levels and series of walls that radiate out from the center of the city and I don't seem to recall a time in history when the city was actually captured by a hostile force. The more I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if Tolkien did base his descriptions off of this majestic city. At various points, overlooks permitted sweeping views of the city walls and the surrounding countryside.
The route we took was deliberate as we were seeking out the Casemates, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site. We reached them, but discovered that there was an entrance fee (Tarif) and as we've quickly learned in the last two and a half months, cash is king here in Europe. We headed back into the city and instead sought out lunch. Our first attempt was a miss, but the second turned out to be far superior. The Bistro Art Scene is a neat little pub with a fantastic menu for both adults and kids. If you're going to Luxembourg City with kids, definitely keep this restaurant in mind. Janet and I shared a huge turkey club sandwich while the boys split an order of chicken strips. The service was good, and best of all, the waitress we had spoke English.
After our fantastic lunch, we once again set off for the Casemates. Now the Casemates are one of the oldest parts of the entire city. It was here that the initial strongholds and castles were built on the Bock as it was a nearly impregnable position. Eventually, Spanish engineers were brought in to carve out a massive complex in the underlying bedrock. The resulting subterranean redoubt is nothing short of amazing given the tools available when it was started in 1644. Exploring the various porticos and former cannon emplacements with Will, and seeing his little imagination beginning to run was one of many high points during this trip. The vantage point was commanding and the defensive implications were quite obvious... nothing was going to take this position. It is important to call your attention to the photo immediately to the left. From various points along the walls and the Bock, a church, an outdoor courtyard and a fortified bridge over the river were visible. For Will, this was the holy grail of the trip. Once he saw it, it was all he wanted to go
and explore. We made our way back up the hill from the Bock and the Casemates and into the city. We did a little souvenir shopping along the way, checking a cute children's toy store and grabbing some bottled waters for our forthcoming trip back to Homburg. From where we parked, it would be a short ten minute drive down to the church and the bridge. By the time we arrived, storm clouds were rolling in and we opted to visit the bridge before the church.
On the day, St. John's would be the third church we visited. It was yet another stunning example of amazing architecture, and interior design.
By 3 PM, we were thoroughly exhausted from a long day of walking throughout the city. We loaded up into our rental car (our Xterra had yet to arrive) and set off for home. The trip back was easy and we didn't encounter much afternoon rush hour traffic.
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