September 7th Tuesday: rainy & cloudy all day: 12 – 18 degrees Celsius
It was difficult to leave the Sofitel. The pillows were so soft and the thick duvet covering me all night was so warm, squishy, and comforting. I must be tired of traveling. Let’s see, it’s been only five weeks….
The Sofitel was a wonderful place to stay! When we went down to the lobby to check out, one man went for the car and another man handled the baggage while the attentive receptionist went over the bill with Jeff. One remarkable thing about the Sofitel was how kind and nice everyone was to us. After the men put our luggage in the car and bid us “bon voyage”, we noticed that they left two bottles of cool water in the cup holders and hanging from the rear-view-mirror was a thank you card with tiny mints attached. Unbelievable!!!
Italian Restaurant in Echternach, Luxembourg
We drove out of the city of Luxembourg at about 10:00 AM and luckily ended up on the correct road out of town heading east to Echternach (pronounced “Esh-ter-nock”) in the country of Luxembourg. We had made a reservation at the Eden du Lac Hotel and the drive took only about half an hour.
Eden au Lac Hotel
The Eden du Lac looks like an old fashioned Swiss hotel with white stucco walls and brown wood porches with red geraniums. It is more of a resort with activities, a large pool, and a famous chef who prepares excellent meals. The other guests also seem to be somewhat older..
Markt in Echternach
We registered and left off our luggage and went into the town. Echternach was a sweet little village. The population is supposed to be only about 4,600 people. Fortunately, it had stopped raining when we walked around the town. We saw a few shops and restaurants and small in-town hotels.
The Main Street in Echternach
We also walked to the Abbey and the historic church which was founded by St. Willibrord in 962. Willi’s remains are in the crypt below the church. We had an excellent pizza lunch at a restaurant near the bus station at the end of the pedestrian street and then walked back to the car to go to Trier, Germany.
Interior of St. Willibrord Church, Echternach
Germany was right across the short bridge over the Sure River. The river was the boundary between the two countries: Luxembourg on one side and Germany on the other. There was a road on each side of the river in both countries. As we drove along, we could see that some towns had walking bridges across the river. We drove along the German side for about 30 minutes and into the city of Trier.
Hauptmarkt in Trier, Germany
The Sure River runs into the larger and more famous, commercial Mosel River. Mosel wine is famous from this region and we saw vineyards on the riverbanks. Trier is located on the Mosel River and is supposed to be one of the oldest cities in Germany. Driving in, the city looked very industrial and there was a lot of truck traffic. We followed the “Centrum” signs and found a parking lot to leave off the car.
Another Side of the Hauptmarkt in Trier
Then we walked to the main market or “Hauptmarkt” and wow!! What a difference from Echternach! The architecture all over the country of Luxembourg was plain wherever we went and the stucco buildings were all painted in soft muted shades of tan or beige. In Germany, we noticed that the buildings were painted all the bright colors of the rainbow and there were decorations around the windows and doors. The architecture was much more interesting!
The Hauptmarkt was lively and exciting and full of people and noise and activities. There were shops and restaurants and fountains and all kinds of things happening. There were several church steeples and signs directing people to a variety of interesting sites. There was even a toy museum with a whimsical tiny automobile parked outside and a wine-tasting booth in the middle of the square.
The Porte Negre
We took lots of photos despite the fact that the sky was overcast and we knew that the pictures wouldn’t be good because of the lousy light. Then we walked around and down the street to the “Porte Negre,” the black gate. This was a “gate” from the original Roman wall which went around the city about two thousand years ago. There was also a Roman amphitheater somewhere else in Trier, but we didn’t have time to go there.
The Porte Negre
We walked back to the Hauptmarkt and bought a still-warm fresh pretzel. Then we went to one of the many outdoor cafes and drank some tea and sat down to rest. Finally we went to the Cathedral of St. Peter/Dom. This is the oldest bishop’s church in Germany of which the Roman centrql section was built in the 4th century.
The Cathedral of St. Peter
It was an impressive church with a very high Romanesque Gothic-style ceiling. The most notable feature of the church was the lack of stain-glass windows. All the windows had white/clear glass pieces which allowed a lot of light into the space and made the church look very large and airy.
Interior of the Cathedral of St. Peter
When we were downstairs exploring the crypt, a monk told us in German that the crypt was closed and we had to leave. It was about 5:00 PM and it had started to rain again. We decided to go back to Echternach before dark and we returned on the road on the Luxembourg side of the Sure River.
Rainy Drive in Echternach, Luxembourg
We went back to the Eden au Lac Hotel, left our cameras in the room and looked at the hotel’s restaurant menu. We decided it was too expensive and too much food. We wanted a simple dinner, not a multi-course meal, so we returned to the little Italian restaurant where we had lunch and we ate a wonderful Italian dinner!