Luxembourg am Hierscht 5 - Clervaux & Esch-sur-Sûre
On Day 5 we drove to Clervaux, the most northern town in Luxembourg we have been during this trip! It was another village in a river valley. When we arrived there, fog was getting thinner. Good morning, Clervaux!
First we walked up to the parish church of Clervaux on the slopes. The remarkable early 20th century Rhenish-Romanesque style church with twin towers stood out in the small town!
The town of Clervaux was very quiet in the morning. There were three birds on the town center street. They didn't somehow look right, did they? Later I learned that it was the arms of the former Lords of Clervaux - a golden shield with a red chief and three silver martlets. A martlet is a mythical small bird, usually depicted without feet and in some cases without beak. I understood it wasn't a case like some mosaic tiles were missing.
A couple of bakeries were already open! We popped in one of them and had tea/coffee and a pastry for breakfast.
I love the European custom that serves tea or coffee with a piece of cookie or chocolate. This bakery gave us both! Their cookie, sablé (French style butter cookie) was lovely. The chocolate cup was delightful. It was filled with a kind of liqueur, which woke and warmed me up!
The construction of Clervaux Castle dates back to the 12th century. After the Battle of the Bulge in the WWII destructed the entire castle, the government Luxembourg restored it completely. Today the castle houses the Museum of the Battle of the Bulge, Museum of models of the Castles and Palaces of Luxembourg, and the worldwide famous photo exhibition "The Family of Man", a part of UNESCO Memory of the World. In the courtyard, there was supposed to be a famous US tank that fought during the war and placed there for decades, but we couldn't see it because it has been moved for repair.
Museum of models of the Castles and Palaces of Luxembourg was very impressive. Twenty-two models of Luxembourg's castles, palaces and fortresses were exhibited at a scale of 1:100. Each model, including the surrounding town in many cases was made extremely detailed!
Vianden castle! I could see the street crowded for the walnut festival much clearly in this way.
Let's pick an interesting one and visit the actual castle later. So, which?
A hilltop castle in a small village on a spur looked adorable. Esch-sur-Sûre Castle was a winner!
We also visited the Museum of the Battle of the Bulge, which was pretty small. We tried to see "The Family of Man," but it didn't open until afternoon unfortunately. Before going to see the real Esch-sur-Sûre Castle, we had a lunch at Restaurant Les Ecuries du Parc. It was located on the side of the wild park of Clervaux, just outside of the town center. It was originally a stable for the Count of Clervaux and converted into a restaurant in the late 60's. The view of the church from the restaurant was lovely!
The inside with a wood fire was simple, rustic and cosy! Bread and bubbles (for J) arrived. The little pate for amuse-bouche was nice. That was a good part.
Here started a difficult part. The restaurant offers French classics, regional and seasonal specialties and somehow an long list of pizza. For a starter, J ordered Bouneschlupp, a traditional Luxembourgish soup made with green beans, potatoes, smoked bacon, and onions. I didn't order a starter because I was going to steal J's soup a little. For a main dish, we both ordered F'rell am rèisleck, another Luxembourgish classic freshwater trout smothered in a creamy Riesling wine sauce. Fish sounded nice since we had heavy meaty lunch the day before. While we were looking forward to those dishes, our waiter came back and told us that the fish dish wasn't not available yet. We had to go back to the menu. J chose veal kidneys flambéed or with Luxembourg mustard. I still wanted to seafood and ended up with linguini with shrimps. Again the waiter came back to us. J's soup wasn't ready yet. Seriously?! The waiter recommended a kind of soup that I didn't catch the name as an alternative. J accepted it.
The Plan B soup was like beef stew. It tasted good but very rich and meaty! The portion was generous. J could finish the lunch without his main dish. When his kidneys came, J smiled. It was a surprisingly small dish! However, that was a trick. Our waiter came back with a big pot for more kidneys and a bowl of rice.
My pasta was not too bad. The noodle was a little overcooked, but that almost always happens. I hardly find a restaurant that serves pasta in "al dante" condition. The shrimps were large and tasted pretty good. The dish was very garlicky and too much. After all it wasn't what I originally desired!
We were the first customer of the day but more customers appeared shortly after us and the restaurant was quickly packed! Despite of their uncertain menu, the restaurant seemed very popular. In fact I wouldn't mind going back there. It was a nice place after all. I could have trout and study their dessert menu, which I missed this time.
It seemed that wherever we went, there was the river Sauer (or Sûre) on this trip. We had a great view from the castle. The town was certainly hidden in the Ardennes forest. On the other hand, it was hard to see the fact that three sides of the town was neatly surrounded by the river as the model showed us. We needed to be higher. I wished to be a bird! Perhaps not a martlet.
The village of Esch-sur-Sûre was pretty small, but it may be a wonderful starting point for hiking in the forests. I didn't see any fancy bakery there. That was ok. Delicious walnut cake was waiting for us at Airb&b!
To be continued...
