Day 17

 Day 17, September 9, 2012 Brussels to Luxemburg by train.

This is Nick.  We met him at the Brussels-Midi train station while we were all waiting for our train.  He is planning a trip to southern France to ride in the French Alps along the route of the Tour de France.  He is from Ghent and we passed the time in conversation while heading to Luxemburg.

Here is our trusty tandem on the train nestled between two 1st class cars.  We, on the other hand, rode coach.  After the third stop, Paul and Nick had to move their bikes from the very front of the train to another location. It was not a language problem but rather miscommunication between the conductors.  We all made it to our stops and the scenery was beautiful.

 After a 3 hour train ride through the countryside of Belgium and Luxemburg, we arrive in the city of Luxemburg.  It was a very relaxing way to travel.

 We checked into our hotel and armed with a map we set out to see the center of Luxemburg.  Just about every country in Europe invaded Luxemburg at one time or another.  Over the centuries, an extensive series of walls and fortifications were built.  They did such a great job that many of the walls are still standing.  This is the view as we walked over the viaduct of the Avenue de la Gare

 We headed to the Palace of the Grand Dukes. Luxemburg s a Duchy and therefore does not have a king and queen but rather a duke and duchess.  The timing of our arrival coincided with the changing of the guard.  It was impressive, but not as impressive as Arlington Cemetery.  Of course their machine guns were pretty impressive!

 We walked around seeing very old buildings that now housed current government offices and foreign consulates.  When reached the Place d'Arms there was a band playing in front of the City Palace.  We found a seat and listened to a few tunes.

 This is a view of the Bock Casemates.  This fortification was built on and into a sheer rock wall on the outskirts of the original city.

As we left the old city to return to our hotel, we had this fabulous view.  It was an afternoon well spent.