Luxembourg & Belgium

On the morning of January 9^th, we packed up our things and took the train back to Versailles. Our original plan had been to drive back to Hoofddorp that day, but we decided while in Paris that it might be better to split the driving time for Liam’s sake. Brendan wanted to see Luxembourg City and a couple significant WWII sites in Belgium too, so the extra day provided us that opportunity.

We were hoping to get on the road a bit earlier than we did – unfortunately when we reached Versailles I realized I no longer had my wallet. The only explanation we could think of is that it had been stolen on the train. Being robbed has a way of dampening one’s spirits, but we did our best to stay positive. Brendan made a few calls to make sure the wallet hadn’t been forgotten at the hotel and to cancel my credit card. Once that was dealt with, we got back on the road.

We pulled into Luxembourg City at around 4:30pm and walked around for a couple hours before sitting down to dinner at Pizza Hut (one of the few places that was open past 6pm!). Luxembourg City has been named a UNESCO world heritage site because of its impressive fortifications. There’s a huge ravine in the middle of the city from which ramparts rise and openings to casemates (underground tunnels) can be seen.

Liam in Luxembourg City!

The ramparts & casemates

That night we stayed at a hostel in Hollenfels, a remote little town in central Luxembourg. It was a large clean hostel with comfortable rooms – and we had the whole place to ourselves! I guess they don’t see much activity up there in the off season. After breakfast the next morning we continued on our journey, stopping briefly at a military museum in Diekirch (Dee-kirsh, still Luxembourg) before crossing into Belgium.

In Bastogne, Belgium, we first visited a memorial to the Americans who had fought there in the Battle of the Bulge (1944-45). Brendan then set his mind to a crucial mission: to find the foxholes dug by Easy Company during the battle. At least once a year, Brendan watches the WWII mini-series Band of Brothers about the 101^st Airborn Division, ‘E’ Company (it’s an incredible series, definitely worth watching again and again). One of the episodes is set in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and shows the soldiers fighting from foxholes they had dug on the front. The foxholes are not marked, but after consulting the attendant at the tourist info center, driving around a bit and scouring the woods, Brendan found them. To be honest, I was a bit uptight about the whole thing because I wanted to make sure we got the car back to the rental place before closing so that we wouldn’t have to pay for another day’s rental. As Brendan traipsed through the woods I sat in the car eating fries and grumbling to myself about my husband’s insistence on seeing a bunch of holes in the ground. But Brendan’s enthusiasm eventually won me over. They’re not just holes in the ground, he reminded me. They are part of a battlefield where men lived and died. They are sites of both brutality and heroism. They are scars in the soil that remind us of what it took to secure our freedom. So in the end I was glad to have seen them (of course, Brendan being absolutely over the moon helped – most of the places we went he had seen before, so it was nice to be able to do something that was new for him too).

Monument to American Soldiers

Monument to 'E' Company

Foxholes

We arrived in Hoofddorp that evening (January 10^th), with plenty of time to bring the car back (yes, I had worried for nothing – that’s a sharpened skill of mine), and enjoy dinner with Gladys & Carlo and some friends of theirs. A large part of next day was spent lazing around, until we had to pack up for our 9:20pm flight to Edinburgh (I stayed in my pj’s until about 5:30pm!). We were grateful to Gladys & Carlo for welcoming us again and providing us the opportunity to rest before flying home. They were very generous hosts – we’re hoping to be able to return the favour here in Stirling!

Fortunately, Brendan had booked us a direct flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh – a transfer in London would have made the trip that much more exhausting. We ended up making it home in record time. As soon as we were off the plane we ran to get our baggage (which, to our great delight, came out immediately!), ran to a cab, arrived at the train station, ran to the train, and got on! Catching that train meant avoiding an hour-long wait for the next one, so we definitely breathed a sigh of relief as we settled in for the ride to Stirling. We got home around midnight and went to bed. We had enjoyed our travels tremendously, but now it was good to be home.