But, we arrived in the pouring rain, waded 2KM to our hotel on the edge of a deep, tree-filled valley, and spent a day and night hoping for some sun.
We stayed in Luxembourg City, in the country of Luxembourg, which is one of those really small countries, a "Grand Dutchy" controlled by a monarch. It is less than 1000 square miles in size, and has about a half million residents and lots of money. Not as much as Monaco, but more than me.
Even in the rain it is a beautiful city, surrounded by cliffs, with a deep valley and river winding around it. The city is about a thousand years old and the casement (defensive ramparts) walk is well known as one of the most beautiful in Europe as it looks over the old city. The language is mixed French, German, and Luxembourgish (I did NOT make that word up!) but mostly French, so we need to bone up on our merci and bonjours.
We borrowed two umbrellas from the hotel and went back outside to alternately walk and swim to the center of the city. We explored the downtown area, and the streets were lined with the beautiful red, white and blue flags of Luxembourg. We found a French Cafe with a small awning we could tuck under, and had a warm meal with wine.
A little more exploring, past the Royal Palace with the Royal Guard, holding the Royal Submachine Gun, and we found ourselves at the edge of the cliff, looking down into the lower part of town. We were standing on top of the Casements, the tunnels in the cliff lined with cannons, used to defend Luxembourg in the old days.
We were glad to get out of the wet gloom and into the dry gloom of the tunnels, where we walked along, then dropped a level, then another, then followed a stone staircase into the depths and got lost. We found our way to the end of a tunnel with an iron gate for a door, leading to "right-where-we-want-to-be" but you can tell what is coming: the gate was locked.
We went back, through the maze, up steps and around past familiar looking places and then suddenly around a corner we were out.
I was amazed at how clean the city was, and how well kept up.
We ended up with a light dinner back in the main square, at another French Cafe, before heading back to the hotel in the dark.
I wish two things about Luxembourg: first, that we had a dry day, and second, that we had a second day there.