Luxembourg was only a short drive from Trier. A small country with 4 languages — French, German, Luxembourger, and English. Since Luxembourg was nearby and none of us had been before, we thought it was worth spending a day.
U.S. War Cemetery and Patton’s Grave
Our first stop was at the Luxembourg American Cemetery. These U.S. national memorials are scattered throughout the world as beautiful tributes to those who died in World War I and World War II. These are worth a visit if you’re in the area. The beautiful shrines and manicured lawns really do allow for reflection. My kids tried to locate familiar last names from the wall of names at the top of the hill. It sparked an interesting discussion about how these men (and a few women) were not much older than my own children. Most of these parents probably never had the chance to see where their children were buried. We found a few who had received special honors and their stories were told in the main visitor center.
General Patton is buried at this particular cemetery. Having chosen to be buried here at the top of the hill watching over all his troops. It was an excuse for all of us read up on Patton and why he was such an important part of U.S. military history.
Discovering the City on Foot: “Free” Walking Tour
As with all new cities, we started with a free walking tour. In case you don’t know how these work, you typically must sign up, show up, and then pay a fee at the based on how much you enjoyed the tour. These tours are a great way to see the city, but the quality is totally based on the tour guide. Our guide for this particular tour was not one of the best, but we still felt like we learned a little about the city and history in a few hours. The tour took us through the main city center and then onto the Grand Ducal Palace, Chamber of Deputies, Notredam Cathedral,and the fortification which was added to the UNESCO World heritage list, is the result of the best military engineers from around Europe.
