Day 70 -The Twentieth Country and 1000th Geocache

Today has been the last full day of my European adventure, and it has been a fitting end to the trip. I woke up happy as the Blue Jays won overnight and was excited for my day in Luxembourg City.

After a hotel breakfast (I still did not have the M&Ms), I caught the train from the nearby station into the twentieth country of the trip. I have been to Luxembourg once before, but have to say that it was nothing like I remembered it! To be fair to me, it was a very long time ago that I visited.

I walked from the station over one of the city’s many bridges, via a small war memorial, and my first major sightseeing stop was the Gelle Fra on the Place de la Constitution - the ‘golden lady’ is the war memorial for Luxembourgers who died in WWI, WWII and the Korean War.

Just over the road is another Notre Dame Cathedral! I have definitely seen a few cathedrals lately. Sadly this did not have a tower for me to climb though.

From there, I walked to the Place D’Armes and Place Guillaume II, the central squares, which include the Hotel de Ville and the Tourist Information. Here, I was able to get my ticket for another little train as well as for the casemates tour.

I had a bit of time before these though, so kept walking in the centre, seeing sites such as the Ducal Palace and a statue of Grand Duchess Charlotte.

To be honest, I still really had not got my bearings in the city, despite lots of geocaching and use of an actual map and google maps! In part, I think this is because the city is essentially on two levels.

Still, I managed to find the starting point for the little train. The little train is one thing that I do remember from our family visit to Luxembourg all those years ago, so it felt quite special to do it again today. It was a really good route that meant I got to see parts of the city that I might not otherwise have done, but the audio guide was a bit annoying!

The start and end point of the little train was Castle Bridge, which is where the Casements de Bock are located. Essentially, these are parts of the fortresses of the city. Some parts date back to the tenth century but it has been extended over time. The Casements de Bock allow you to go into the underground galleries. It was pretty cool, but also a bit eerie in places! I loved the parts where you suddenly came out in the light though and had great views of the city.

Back on the surface, I walked a large part of the Chemin de la Corniche - which allowed for lovely views. I could see why it got UNESCO world heritage site status!

I then went down in the (non panoramic) elevator to the lower level of the city, and found a nice little restaurant for some lunch (and a lovely hot chocolate).

Re-fuelled, I then walked to the panoramic elevator, which I would rate as an excellent form of public transport!

From there, it was back through the public park to the centre. I was still picking up lots of geocaches as I went - at some point I even got my 1000th of the trip - and was trying to complete a challenge to do with street signs. I didn’t complete it, but it did keep me entertained! It also took me past a couple more of the city’s architectural highlights.

I stopped off for a lovely afternoon cup of tea and cream cake (extravagant!) on my way to the station, and then headed back to Metz to watch some of the Ryder Cup on my computer whilst writing this. Tomorrow, it will be back to the UK.