De-Lux (Part one)

Katie and I had originally planned on heading up to Belgium and the Netherlands after Germany but then we started to read about Luxembourg with its hikes, rolling hills, forests, and cheap campsites. We decided that Belgium and the Netherlands could wait and we set off to explore the tiny and much overlooked Luxembourg.

A hike just outside our campsite which was just outside of Luxembourg City.

Probably the biggest slug we saw along the way, gross

At one of the ends of the trail it open to a field at sunset.

In the capital city of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City that is. Again very green here.

One of the bridges connecting the two parts of the city.

A monument to the fallen soldiers of Luxembourg.

The cathedral.

Inside.

The cieling.

ha, love it!

Lux brew on a hot summer day.

Crumble pastry for a snack.

For dinner that night, we had some bretzels and moutarde de piment d'Espelette (mustard with spicy peppers from Espelette) for an appetizer. Really good.

Belgium cheese from the Abbaye Chimay also known for their beer. Chimay Blue label is one of my favs.

Lettuce wraps with tomato, , cucumber, dried sausage with herbs de Provence and red peppers. Awesome.

The next day we invested in the Luxembourg Card which got us free transportation through out the entire country and entry to tons of museums, wineries, castles, etc. We decided to go see a butterfly garden along the Rhine river, the side of Luxembourg bordering Germany.

The first butterfly.

Cool plant looked like a jug.

Stick beetle that was hard to spot at first glance.

A bird that didn't fly but was running around the place.

This butterfly was huge!!!

Cool lizard. Katie and I sat and looked at it for 10 minutes hoping it would eat some flies. No luck.

Another lizard.

After the butterfly garden, we had a picnic along the river. Just across the river was Germany.

The champagne, sorry that's only from France, the sparkling wine house - Bernard Massard

Our guide on the left was totally dry and seemed stiff at first but was halarious.

Taste of bubbly.

Bonne vue.

The decision, it's good.

Check this out if you see it in the wine shop. Good stuff. It's a brut so it's dry but still retains just a little sweetness and nice nose.

Next stop, a sparkling winery - St. Martin

In the cellar.

The leftover lees (a by-product of the yeast converting the sugar to alcohol) after fermentation.

The shop for this place was carved into the mountain side.

Walking along the river.

A fountain.

Tired and hungry after a long day.

yeah, Bratwurst and fries!