Luxembourg is my 25th visited country, and though it was small, it was quite a pleasure to check out some of the beautiful sites. The whole trip was spontaneous, so we decided where to go the day before or on the day itself. There’s the Bourscheid Castle, the largest one in the country. Then, there was Vianden Castle. It was Carl who read about Vianden online. He knew I dig castles, so, off we went.. We also stopped by Luxembourg City, took the viewing elevator, and passed by, probably, the most luxurious home for elderly in the world. 🙂 Then, we drove across France and on to Switzerland.
Here’s the route for the entire trip last summer:
The stay in Hotel Restaurant Lamy in Troisvierges was good, and I gave them this review: “Nice hotel, cozy atmosphere. Room spacious enough — top floor, no elevator that time. Thankfully, there was a big fan in the room! Ok breakfast, helpful staff, and ok parking space by the place. Free advertisement postcards by the reception. Bathroom might be slippery, watch out.”
We left around 8:15, and not long from the hotel was a beautiful local church. I asked Carl to stop by so I could drop the postcards in a maibox and check out the church at the same time. The church was located on a corner, across the road opposite a library.
One thing I like about blogging is learning more about the places I visited. Troisvierges’ name, apparently, is French and refers to the three virgins – Fides, Spes and Caritas. Inside the Franciscan Church of Troisvierges is a statue of the three, along with one of the oldest organs in the country and some paintings by Ruben. More about the church here: https://www.visittroisvierges.lu/information/points-of-interest/franciscan-church-of-troisvierges/. The altar was amazing!
And off we went along the narrow roads of Luxembourg, passing by forests and fields.
At around 9:45am, we reached Bourscheid Castle, the largest in the country. Its construction started in the year 1000! And it has undergone 4 expansions throughout the centuries. Long story short, the Bourscheid family owned the estate, until no heir was produced in the 1500s. Then, it was taken over by three families – the Metternich, the Zant of Merl, and the Ahr. However, after the wars in the 1700s which ended the feudal and castle period, the estate fell into the hands of Freiherr van Schmidtburg, chamberlain of the Elector and Archbishop of Trier. He auctioned all of his properties in the 1800s, and the castle was left to decay. Later on, it became a historical monument, and acquired, excavated and restored by the state since 1972. More about the Bourscheid Castle, its history and visiting hours, here: https://www.castle-bourscheid.lu/wp5/en/history/.
But as mentioned, the largest castle was more or less, ruins:
But then, there’s Vianden Castle. Bourscheid might be bigger, but in our opinion, Vianden had more to offer. It’s one of the most beautiful castles I’ve been to. By the moment we stepped out of the car and had a look of it from afar, we were awed. It was like a fairytale.
Vianden Castle was built between the 11th and 14th century. It housed the most influential counts of Vianden, until it was acquired by the House of Nassau in the 1400s. In the 1800s, the castle was sold piece by piece, causing it to fall into ruin. However, in 1977, it was transferred to state ownership by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and thus, began the restoration of the buildings. More about its history and visiting hours here: https://castle-vianden.lu/gb/.
So, here’s a peek into the interior of the castle, including the chapel.
And some shots outside, where one can also catch a glimpse of the village below:
Vianden Castle was like an icon to Luxembourg – truly worth a visit!
Then, we drove southward to check out the capital city, also called Luxembourg. We arrived there at around 1pm. We had some bickering about parking fees, but then solved it after a while. LOL XD. There’s a viewing elevator one could take to get a glimpse of the city.
And a few meters from the viewing elevator was a home for the aged/home for pensionists, founded by Jean-Pierre Pescatore (1793-1855), a businessman, banker, art collector and philantrophist. He left the City of Luxembourg 1million gold francs (500,000 monetary, and 500,000 worth of art) when he died, half of it was for the foundation. The home is intended for the privileged, according to its website: https://www.fondation.lu/, with prices ranging from 124 euros for 1 night in a single holiday room, to 4799 euros for a month in a suite. They also have rooms for 2 people, priced at 6186 euros per month. These prices are as of May 2023. Well, speak of quality of life 🙂
I don’t know, but Luxembourg was a bit weird, in my opinion. They have parking lots intended for women, which are wider than regular parking spaces. Was that humor? I don’t know..
We left Luxembourg at around 2:30 pm, and only had 1 or 2 stops in France to stretch or have some snacks. The next two pictures were taken somewhere in Epinal, and Nancy, France.
Ooh.. how I miss those eggpies. 🙂
We crossed the border to Switzerland at around 7pm, and at 7:20, we were relaxing in Hotel Bellevue in Porrentruy.
So many nice pictures and memories from the castles, and the journey, from Day 5. Excited to blog about what we did in Switzerland in the next entry 🙂
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PinayOdyssey 