Trip Date: February 2024
Having been to Paris over 20 times, it's nice to take a little side trip and explore other areas. And with so many destinations and so many fast trains, it is very easy to get away for a night and even see a tiny country!
Neither Forest or I had been to Luxembourg so decided to do exactly that last February. The morning after I arrived in Paris we boarded our train at Gare de l'Est, made our own mimosas in our seats, and had a relaxing 3 hour ride to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (country #58 for me).
Luxembourg City is the capital and main city in the country of just under 700,000 people (~137,000 in the capital). Generally if people say Luxembourg they are referring to the city. The official language is Luxembourgish but most everyone spoke French and German also. It is the only Grand Duchy country in the world, meaning its ruler is a monarch bearing the title of Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. In the past there were up to 14 Grand Duchies including Tuscany, Finland, Frankfort, Baden and Transylvania.
Luxembourg offers free public transportation around the city so from the train station we jumped on a tram and headed to Le Bouquet Garni for our lunch reservations. This was a very historic restaurant in the center (it has since closed sadly) in a wonderful old building with exposed wooden beams, fireplace, and view of the Grand Duke's palace next door.
We ordered the set 3-course menu along with a lovely Pinot Blanc from the Luxembourg region of Moselle. I'm pretty sure I had never had that grape before, and it was for sure my first Luxembourg wine!
After lunch we walked to Le Royal Hotel and checked into our double room. The brutalist designed hotel was very much geared towards business clientele, but it was a good price and very close to the town center.
We dropped our bags and headed back out to explore; the town is super small so it didn't take us long! Passing an art gallery with some interesting work in the window, we went inside and ended up meeting and chatting with local artist Pablo Schwickert who was taking a break from live painting.
It was dusk as we walked thru the old town, called Ville Haute, and I found the buildings, big squares, and cobblestoned streets to be very charming. And clean!
Ville Haute was once just a small fort built in the 10th century on a natural rocky hill. Over time the fortress was expanded and reinforced and the settlement continued to grow around it. Today the entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
We walked through quiet and narrow streets to
Dipso Wine Bar, which specializes in wines from Luxembourg but carries a selection from all over. Inside the old building the ceilings were low and the room dim, the service was super friendly and educational, and we had a great time trying some more local wine and asking for other recommendations.
One of the recommendations was Bellamy Bar, just a few doors down. We stopped in for a glass of the Cremant Luxembourg, while having a conversation about all of the European regions who make cremant, before making our way to
Shinzo Bar.
We were ready for some cocktails and the ones at Shinzo were quite good, and quite good looking. We also had some bar snacks which were fine. The bar itself is very pretty, with gorgeous custom wallpaper and plush bar stools and seemed to be a popular spot.
Back at our hotel we stopped in the bar for a nightcap but had to take them to our room as the bar smelled so strongly of cigar smoke I was about ready to gag! Our room had been turned down and chocolate coins with an image of the Luxembourg coat of arms were on our pillows. Cute!
Our train back to Paris wasn't until 6:30pm so we had a full day to continue exploring. After checking out and leaving our bags at the front desk we grabbed a (free) bus and got off where we could walk and take in views of the Red Bridge and the city below.
From these viewpoints you can really see how deep the canyon at the bottom of the plateau is and how much the locals probably appreciate being able to drive or walk across!
From here we walked towards the city's famous Bock Casements; a series of underground tunnels and weapons' platforms that also were part of the original footprint of the fortress built in 1745.
The tunnels are really interesting but for me the views all around the valley really stole the show. You can see the Adolphe Bridge from here too.
Walking back into the Old Town from this area gives you a very different perspective of the upper and lower towns.
We walked past the Palais Grand-Ducal and stopped into a few souvenir shops to take a look at all things plastered with the royal family's face before stopping for lunch.
I really love trying traditional dishes whenever I travel so in Luxembourg I chose the restaurant
Um Dierfgen. We had a glass of the local white wine while waiting for our table; the restaurant was very busy with a lot of regulars so it was good we had made a ressie.
It's a cute place with a menu full of comfort foods, lots of creamy sauces, potatoes, ham, stews, etc. I ordered the kniddelen mat speck or dumplings with lardon/bacon in a creamy white sauce. It was quite good, it was also quite heavy!
I had planned to do some shopping after lunch but as it was Sunday a lot of places were closed. We wandered around a bit and decided to check out
Urban which was another cafe that had been recommended to us and is open daily. It was very busy with locals and we could only get seated in the back bar area so we just had a glass of wine and left.
Being close to our hotel we grabbed our bags and then met a friend of Forest's at a very cute cocktail stop called
Paname. Quick side note, I did not know that Paname is French slang for Paris! Anyway the cocktails here were great and it was nice talking to a local about their home.
And that was it! We walked a short way to the train station, which looks a bit like a church and was all lit up. Inside we grabbed some wine and sandwiches to eat on the train. I loved this little getaway to Europe's 6th smallest country. Luxembourg has got a ton of history, is very pretty, and wasn't crowded. Those all score an A with me.
In just over 2 hours we were back in Paris and mixing up martinis in Forest's apartment.
All photos from Luxembourg
here.
Other posts from this trip:
