9/13/24: Cruising the Moselle in Southern Luxembourg

Photos of the charming village of Mondorf-les-Bains where we stayed for our first two nights in the southeast part of Luxembourg: 

I climbed to the top of a hill for this photo thinking it might be Le Castel, a small Roman fortress that had been transformed into a hermitage during the Middle Ages.

The Luxembourgish language sign pointed in that direction so that building might have been the castle.

Views of the village church, Eglise St. Michel, that was built atop Nicholas Hill in 1764 in the Baroque and Rococo styles:

Steven and I jokingly said to each other this would be the first of how many churches we'd see this trip considering we had a week in Catholic Luxembourg, two weeks in Catholic Sicily, and another week in Catholic Malta, let alone three weeks in Tunisia which also has its fair share of churches. At least we picked a pretty one to start at!

At the bottom of the hill was the French border!

If you remember your high school French, you'd know that the latter part of the village name of Mondorf-les-Bains means 'baths' because the area was full of thermal springs and spas. The parking was impossible near the baths so we sought refuge in the Parc Thermal instead. 

As we drove north toward the Moselle Valley town of Remich, we spotted the first of the vineyards the area is world famous for.

We had some time to wander along the Moselle River which divides Luxembourg on the west and Germany on the east before our river cruise.

Naomi: This one's for you as I know you're a car buff. 

Remich calls itself The Pearl of the Moselle.

Steven and I were intrigued to find the Bacchus Fountain turning round and round - I guess the God of Wine had had too much to drink!

Porte St. Nicolas: 

After taking selfies worldwide, you'd have thought I'd be a whiz at them by now. But no, this was about my fifth attempt as I kept missing the first or last letter. I'll attribute my difficulty to the country having way too many letters!

Remicher Moart, i.e a combination of Moselle and art, along the waterfront: 

The uber-fancy Tourist Information Bureau:

Our 3.5-hour sightseeing tour would take us on a tour of some locks, first heading north toward Ehnen before turning back to Remich to pick up more passengers and then heading south to Schengen and again back to Remich. However, due to poor communication, we had no idea that the boat would stop in Remich before continuing southward so we got off until we figured what was what!

Steven and I erroneously assumed there would be narration aboard but we all know what 'assume, means! As a result, we had NO idea where we were at any point on the ride or what the views were of, unfortunately. 

A high-speed train on the German side of the river: 

We saw more mobile homes than we've seen in many mobile home parks, again on the German side. I wondered if they were perhaps housing for the vineyard workers?

I just looked at the Navitours map of our cruise and found out that we traversed through the lock at Palzem - I sure didn't know it then! The boat captain had to let the water equalize between the upper and lower parts of the Moselle. 

Although the vineyard views on the Luxembourg side were gorgeous, I'd have loved to have known details about the grapes, the length of the season, etc. 

My last shot before I must have dozed off after the long flight the day before as the next thing I knew was we were seeing another lock. Oops, no, the boat had turned around and this was the same lock we'd passed through earlier!

A familiar-looking sign!

On the northbound leg, Steven and I were all bundled up in our heavy coats on the upper deck with all the smokers (lucky us!) as the interior, lower deck was reserved for a lunch group. Heading southbound, we found a warm and smoke-free spot inside. The downside was taking pictures during the tinted windows - sorry for the dark photos.

There were far fewer vineyards on the German side as we headed south; instead, towns were located right by the shore. 

I appreciated that the town officials of Besch had kindly written their town's name on the side of the river so we finally knew where we were!

The lush Luxembourg vineyards:

We were both awake when the boat turned around at Schengen to head back north to Remich!

There had been no other boat traffic earlier on the Moselle. 

A primo camping spot right on the Moselle!

Another view of Besch:

Our last view from the boat ride:

Remich’s parish church, a registered national monument, had a 12th-century tower that was originally built as a watchtower in the Roman era.

We soon discovered that most of Luxembourg's churches were built on high ground overlooking the towns or villages. 

What spectacular views of never-ending vineyards as we drove south toward Schengen. As Steven and I so often say, "Does it get any better than this?"

Steven stopped so we could each savor one divine grape!

Each village, no matter how small, had a lovely stone church at its heart. 

In the town of Remerschen, world-renowned architect François Valentiny from Remich built the extraordinary Valentiny Foundation in 2016 as an exhibition space for himself and his Viennese business partner.  

Also in Remerschen was Le centre nature et forêt Biodiversum Camille Gira, a nature center built by Valentiny on the surrounding wetlands. 

A detailed description of a beehive made by the dry-stacked stone method listed the geology and price, the technical specifications, the labor time, the diameter and height, and the cost to the Biodiversum. The last time Steven and I had seen such an unusual structure was in Ireland about four years ago. I had no clue why one was built on the grounds of the nature center. 

There were similar info panels on this safe space and ...

a herb spiral, a free-standing stone wall with an integrated bench, a retaining wall, a long curved wall with a mailbox insert, and some integrated parallel stairs. I wish I'd known why such interesting pieces had been built all using the same dry stack stone method at the nature center. 

The rear of the nature center faced a pond. 

Even though we'd only arrived in Luxembourg the preceding afternoon, we'd already seen several cute-as-a-button school crossing 'guards'!

On a few miles to Schengen, the historic Luxembourg village where the European Union was born. Schengen, on the border of Germany and France, caught the world's attention in June 1985 when it hosted the signing of the Schengen Agreement which formalized the accord between the original EU countries to abolish border controls between them.

The European Museum was closed due to renovations. 

The Schengen Castle dates to a 13th-century moated castle that was mostly demolished in 1812 by the industrialist Jean-Nicolas Collart who built the present-day castle, now a hotel. 

Only one of the four massive round towers remains from the original moated castle. The celebrated German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the French writer Victor Hugo stayed there. 

A view from the castle of the Moselle and Germany across the river:

Steven and I had unknowingly timed it just right to be at the small park in front of the museum when the EU flags were being taken down for the night. 

Steven decided he wanted some pop so we hopped across the bridge to the Lidl grocery store in Germany! All was good until we couldn't figure out how to leave the store's self-checkout area. We felt pretty dense until a friendly customer showed us we needed to scan our receipt for the barrier to open!

This was our last view of Germany for goodness knows how long. Since Luxembourg is so tiny, we were back at our casino hotel in tiny Mondorf-les-Bains in no time. 

I was astounded at the proliferation of the English language in Luxembourg. You'll see many more examples in upcoming posts of how English has, in my opinion, sadly infiltrated daily life in the tiny country. 

Next post: Exploring Luxembourg's Little Switzerland, rock formations, and castles!

Posted on September 21st, 2024 in Palermo, Sicily where we arrived two days ago for a two-week visit to the island that's already grabbed our attention. Please take care of yourself and your loved ones, hold them extra close, and be sure to tell them how much they matter to you.