| En route to Luxembourg we stopped off at ‘Clair de Lune’ campsite a very well appointed site about a mile from Maubeug centre. Maubeug was founded in the 7th Century and in 17th century vast fortifications (18 miles perimeter) were built by Vauban. The forts were besieged in World War I by the German Empire. It suffered heavily in World War II: 90% of the town centre was destroyed by bombardments in May 1940. Fighting again occurred in early September of 1944, in and around the outskirts of Maubeuge, involving units of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division during the American push towards Belgium. Consequently we found the rebuild of Mauberg to be quite plain and uninteresting. |
| Poor weather at Maubeuge war memorial | Our favourite - vanilla slices – diet what diet? |
| Fort Leveau, close to where we were staying, was built in 1882 –1884 and housed 97 men. It was badly damaged in both world wars, but has been restored and is now a museum which is well worth a visit. |
| After 3 nights in Maubeuge we moved onto a very nice caravan site at Alzingen a small town south of Luxembourg city. From here we could get the bus into the city for just Euro 2 each. The site had all the facilities you could wish for including free fast WiFi, but the showers definitely had a mind of their own when it came to controlling the temperature of the water. |
| Sue on our pitch in Alzingen | On site play park |
| Alzingen church and castle |
| Alzingen memorial to 3 US soldiers drowned when their tank went in the River Alzette |
| Grand Ducal Palace, Luxembourg City, is the official residence of the Grand Duke. The palace is used by him for his official functions. He and the Grand Duchess, together with their staff, have their offices at the palace, the state rooms on the first floor are used for a variety of meetings and audiences. Between 1572 and 1795 the building was the first city hall. |
| Not far from the Grand Ducal Palace are the Bock Casemates. They are one of the main attractions in the city. At one time the city was known as the ‘Gibraltar of the North’ with its extensive fortifications and 23 km long network of casemates that could shelter thousands of soldiers. In 1875, the superstructure of the Bock, a tremendous construction, was razed. However, it proved to be impossible to blow up the casemates, without also demolishing part of the city, so the entrances and the key connecting galleries were sealed. In spite of this, 17 kilometres of tunnels remain, often on different levels and tremendous stairways penetrate up to 40 metres inside the rock face. |
| View from the casemates over the River Alzette |
| Left over from another era |
| Bock Casemates on the left |
| Bock Casemates – the red blob top right is a small tethered balloon |
| Cathedral Note Dame de Luxembourg | Pont Adolphe getting a much needed strengthening |
| Stuart in the Petrusse Valley – the top of the viaduct is the height at which the main part of the city is situated | Sue contemplating some exercise when on a walk by the River Alzette in the Petrusse Valley |
| Towards the end of the walk we entered into the area known as Grund, the oldest part of the city. After a drink in the sunshine we ascended, by free lift, to a newer administrative part of the city. | Once on higher ground you are in the more modern part of the city. These coloured vases were an interesting feature |
| A very nice dress with no price on it! I wonder why? | How do they do that? |
| On a few mornings I cycled along the Alzette Valley towards Luxembourg City. I managed to get to the city once, but because of heavy engineering work on the outskirts, my route was on temporary steel plates which were very slippy in the wet. Much of the ride was in heavy shade so rather chilly. However there was plenty of history in the valley. In the past there were many water mills which helped with the textile industry. Most of this industry was owned by the Godchaux brothers, hence the nearby Godchaux Walk. |
| Wash House | Weir with small canal |
| The motorway bridge which I had to cycle under. Luxembourg is very hilly so they have some very impressive bridges |
Oldie Photos
| 1963 Cycle trip to Northern Europe with school friend Neil. Photos: Changing the guard: Grand Ducal Palace – Luxembourg countryside – Stuart and Neil at lunch, I think we got packed lunches from the Youth Hostel |
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