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Luxembourgish Ain't No Made Up Word

10/20/2011

7 Comments

 
What is Luxembourg?  Well, it’s not France, but they speak French.  It’s a little more like Germany, but they’re certainly not German.  They speak Luxembourgish (yes, that’s an actual language) but you almost never hear it.  People switch from French, to English to German whenever they need to.  There are a lot of expensive cars.  And a plethora of well-dressed businessmen walking the streets.  They supposedly have a soft spot for the Americans.  And they really seem to love their royal family. 

I guess ambiguity of culture is exactly what makes Luxembourg, well, Luxembourg.

It’s hard to say.  I visited Luxembourg City for just a few hours, but I definitely liked it.  It had the kind of character that feels authentic – like real people live and work there – despite Luxembourg’s reputation for being a very wealthy place.  My friend, Wisconsin (the alias I’m giving her because of her deep Midwestern roots and thick accent) and I decided to spend our free Wednesday taking the train over to have a look. 

We decided to take a leisurely approach and headed towards the city center, where we ambled amongst the streets, shops and monuments. 

The highlights of our excursion included:

Walking the main bridge into the center of town.  The city is divided by an enormous valley, with bridges connecting the two sides.

Happening upon the Ladurée store.  We bought incredible macarons in beautiful boxes, served to us by an incredibly charming man at the counter.  True luxury.

Having lunch in a small café-type place.  My salad had shrimp and some sort of cream sauce.  Wisconsin had the pasta.  This place was teeny tiny, which was what added to its charm.  Being squeezed in - fellow day trippers on one side, lunching businessmen on the other and the single waitress serving everyone with an ease of someone who knew how to do her job –  is what made the place, so unassuming from the outside, feel so charming on the inside.  And of course, we desserted on our macarons, which were delicious.

Walking through the streets, happening upon fun little gourmet shops and walking through a maze of beautifully kept government and judicial buildings. 

Luxembourg is charming, but not in a storybook kind of way.  Which I like.  It makes it more real, in the way some university campuses are charming and clean, but also useful and functional, too.  I don’t know much about the people of Luxembourg, can’t really sum them up.  One afternoon doesn’t seem a fair amount of time to try and make a judgment anyway, does it?  So I’ll just leave it at that.  A charming mash up.  A crossroads of cultures.  Something entirely unique on its own.
7 Comments
Teresa
10/20/2011 12:59:53 am

Are you being seduced by the Macaroons? Are they a fad? I don't remember seeing or eating them when I was in Europe last time? Presentation is everything, loved the box. How far is Luxemburg by train? Is it the downtown Sacramento of Europe?

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Marsha Carvalho
10/20/2011 01:17:45 am

Loved your description of Luxembourg. Also, and very important: Was that mango on your shrimp salad?? It looks soooo perfectly ripe and delicious. Did you walk on the Adolph Bridge? I liked how one side is in Germany and the other side is in Luxembourg and no one asked for your passport. Ha!

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Wendy
10/20/2011 01:33:27 am

Love the pics! Looks like a really fun place to visit!

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Karen V. link
10/20/2011 02:55:57 am

Thank you for sharing such a fun and historic short trip here! Reading your photo of the wording from the monument gave me a chill. So much history. The buildings are beautiful and the presentation of the food is incredible!

I have heard of those macaroons before. One of my bloggy friends posted all about them and I thought you might want to take a peek here - http://bit.ly/o6Albp They are available in New York as well! (And what beautiful packaging... I'd want anything they'd put in the box, just to have the box itself!) :)

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Katie link
10/20/2011 04:50:38 am

Mom - I don't think macarons are a fad just very common. And yes, of course I'm being seduced by the macarons - they're macarons, after all! Luxembourg is about 20 minutes from Thionville, but it takes me almost an hour to take the bus to Thionville (a 10-15 minute drive).

Marsha - Those are actually potatoes with the dressing on them. They were good though!

Reply
Teresa
10/20/2011 05:30:08 am

Just looked at the excellent photos and read the captions.
Thoughts:
*We MUST create a macaron tree.
*I love the shrimp on the skewer. Good choice.
*Goat pillow-Shelly
*The war memorial plaque gave me goosebumps. Never Forget.
*The police certainly are like the Greek police :)

Reply
slenderella newman
10/20/2011 08:25:35 am

The war memorial tells you why they have a soft spot for Americans -- we share the same spirit of freedom.

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