Well well well. Here I am back on the writing board, about to write a post about yet another travel. Honestly I am enjoying writing a lot. I have recently picked up reading and I feel like I missed out on so much not having read all these years. But nonetheless, I feel that I have become more eloquent and expressive in my speech and my writing.
So getting to the part about the travel! I prefer to call it 'discovery' as sometimes we go far and wide, miles away looking for unique treasures, when all we need to do is look in our own background. As I have been mentioning in my last few posts, I am falling more and more in love with Metz. I think the onset of Spring and the brilliantly sprouting lilac's and yellows of the flowers are bringing out the beauty of the city.
After an overnight trip to Paris to see my mom and sister I was back in Metz on Friday in time for class. This weekend was going to be a relaxed one as we only had 2 days this time. Nonetheless we ended up in Cafe Comedie, a new york style bar located off the river. The bar during happy hours serves up some delicious brews. Off course the night wasn't complete without a beer at Le Berthom. In the midst of all the crazed traveling and classes, some of us hadn't really hung out in a while and it was great to catch up with no trains to catch or tests to worry about. An evening full of great conversations and beer ended with an absolutely wonderful sleep.
Ahh now comes the traveling bit. Saturday morning. The sun was shining in all its glory and sunshine was pouring into my room when I opened my eyes at about half past 8. My partner in 'discovery' was going to be Sinan this day. Sinan Sinharoy is one of the most interesting mixes of people I've met. With a dad who is from West Bengal in India and mom from Turkey, that is one delicious household. We had planned to go to Luxembourg for the day and the day seemed perfect for an excursion. Before we left for Luxembourg, we intended to check out the fresh market next to the cathedral we had heard off. The market was splendid. With vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meats and cheese to umbrella's and clothes. Some people sold only eggs and honey. It's great to see trade still take place like this. Walking around the market under the sky, we bought ourselves a lunch of rotisserie chicken and some sort of Turkish bread. As we munched on our food in that bustling market amongst the locals, we felt like locals!
We took the 2 o clock train to Luxembourg. Luxembourg is only a 45 minute train ride north of Metz. The country is divided into three main principalities with Luxembourg City being the main one. It is the only remaining sovereign grand Duchy in the world with a population of a little over half a million and the highest GDP in the world. It was evident as soon as we got off the train that this was an affluent place. The cars, the way people dressed and even the stores suggested that it was a small but rich country. The guy at the information desk told us that everything that needed to be seen, all 30 attractions were in a 2 km circle.
We started walking slightly and soon discovered that the city is actually located on hills and there was a huge valley we could see below while crossing one of the bridges towards the city center. The city was bustling, with Germans, French, Britishers and Luxembourgers who speak something called Luxembourgish.(It's a mix of French and German and has a sing song ring to it) The streets were typically European, narrow and winding between houses. Though similar to Metz and some other French cities, there seemed to be an upmarket feel in everything. The restaurants looked trendier, stores looked boutique, clothes looked chic and cars looked shiny. The sun with all it's glory gave every one reason enough to descend on this small city/country. We turned a corned and found the city center. A big square lined with restaurants on either side, and teeming with people in their Sunday best. We sat their lounging and eating for a while, chatting and completely relaxed.
It was about 4 o clock when we stumbled upon something sublime. Now my favorite part of 'discovery' is the haphazardness and randomness of it all. I love having nothing planned. Just a destination and the thirst to see new things and Sinan was the perfect partner for this. As we looked down at the valley far below, it looked like a complete different world from where we were. Soon enough we were down there, and began our actual discovery. We had almost suddenly gone from a bustling and expensive area to the quaintest and most charming part of town. It was almost like this was a village of Luxembourg. The most beautiful small houses lined the roads, a river flowed at a leisurely pace, and the only thing you could hear or see were the birds. It was gorgeous. We walked through what seemed to be a 'village'. Nature was literally in our face as we walked and walked completely in awe. Every now and then we would see a trendy brasserie in the middle of nowhere, or a Italian restaurant run from a house on the river. The river had a huge fortress built on it at one point. This was from the older times and was beautifully integrated into the joggers path. The path we took would go up on a hill, then come down on a set of stairs on the fort, before opening onto an expanse of green and then quickly narrowing next to the river. All the while we walked around the V shaped valley, we saw very trendy and up market cafe's and boutique stores in the most unusual places. The area was called Grund and it was a chic little part of this 'lower' Luxembourg. And just like that our path lead us onto a step farm, on a lovely opening of land.
I think I cannot justice to the place and I am going to post some pictures to talk to show what we saw.
As the sun was setting, me and Sinan stood on the same bridge we had walked on in afternoon, looking at the entire valley that we had just walked through, and there was a calm. I realized how glad I was to have made the decision of being in France!
Au Revoir Luxembourg we said! Enchantez!
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