We spent Day 2 in the countryside of Luxembourg. First we drove to Berdorf, a small town along the river Sauer (or Sûre), which forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany.
In Berdorf, there were a quiet town center with a church, some residential areas, farmer fields, and forests! Hiking around striking rock formations in the deep woods of the Sauer valley was amusing!
Lovely mushrooms here and there.
A blurry red squirrel in the middle of the photo...
The valley was very steep and the hiking path was pretty narrow, which sometimes scared me. We reached a viewpoint that we could overlook some fogs above the river Sauer and Germany.
We left the beautiful forests and walked back to the town center of Berdorf. It was a great walk! Time for lunch?
In terms of a place to eat, Berdorf didn't offer much but the neighbor town Echternach did! We made a quick drive there after we took a little bit more walk in the town of Berdorf.
J chose Brasserie-Restaurant Aal that was located at the town center. It was a pretty weekend. Many people were enjoying lunch and the sun while we got a table inside because we had been outdoor in the entire morning already.
I had a vegan pumpkin burger. I didn't recognize the presence of pumpkin but the patty and the brown sauce tasted great. It reminded me of Japanese creamy corn croquette. J had “Paschtéit vum Lausberger Poulet” in Luxembourgish. It's a puff pasty filled with chicken, mushroom and creamy sauce and similar to Bouchée à la Reine or Vol au vent in France. He liked his dish pretty much!
Echternach, the site of a 1st-century Roman villa and the oldest town in Luxembourg was also small but charming. The centerpiece is Basilica of Saint Willibrord, or the Abbey of Echternach. The 11th century Romanesque church, which was rebuilt after WWII, sits on the site that Saint Willibrord founded an original church in 698.
The abbey museum was interesting. An exact copy of the Codex aureus Epternacensis (the Golden Gospel Book of Echternach), a manuscript that was written by gold ink in the abbey in the 11th century was one of must-see items. By the way, the original book is found at the Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg. We haven't been to Nuremberg. Maybe we'll in near future?
The Orangerie, gardens of the abbey (I think) was unfortunately closed at that time. We peeked it through the gate.
Hello again, the river Sauer! The town is on the bank of the river, which means the other side is Germany. Hallo!
The 14th century palace of justice, the “Dingstuhl” was an eye-catcher. One of the statutes on the front side was Virgin Mary, of course!
We stopped by at Pâtisserie Hoffmann Echternach to buy some treats for tea time later. Their Mon Blanc looked nice but I thought that it wouldn't travel well. J wisely chose a cherry tart and a custard tart.
We also stopped by at another bakery, Fischer. Boxemännchen, human-shaped brioche bread were so cute! They are holiday treats to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day in Luxembourg, The holiday is in the early December but I have seen them at many bakeries we visited during the trip. J asked the shop lady to pick the most handsome one with a cherry belly button for us. He also got his first Pâté au Riesling there.
When we came back to Airb&b, we enjoyed the treats. They were pretty good! Very nice pick, J!
To be continued...
