Vianden, Luxembourg 30 April 2019

30.04.19 - Best laid plans and all that - the pizza place in Germany is closed on Mondays! Crossed back over into Luxembourg, wandered around and found a fairly busy pizza place. One glass of wine was nearly €6, and a bottle of house wine between €30 - €40!. There weren’t many people drinking alcohol! Birthday boy had a glass! Was just surprised at the price of alcohol, as in the shops it seems cheaper than other countries. Also, the pizzas were well priced at around €9+. Good meal for €30. Walked back to Dave and watched Line of Duty. Already looking forward to next episode!

We were in a bit of a dilemma. We knew we shouldn’t really stay parked overnight, but a German lady in a moho earlier had said two vans had stayed the previous night without any problems. Suffice to say, fairly light sleep - waiting for knock on door - but none came!

Had decided that maybe Luxembourg would be a good place to have a haircut, due to so many nationalities and people’s ability to speak English fairly well.

The first one we came to I went in. As luck would have it, the lady said if I went back in about 40 minutes she could fit me in.

In the meantime, went into the huge abbey in Echternach, and sat down and heard the history.

Tintin went to get what turned out to be an industrial baguette and went back to Dave. Had to wait an extra 30 minutes, as the lady doing my hair was having an awkward client - and kept wanting changes - there are some brave people about! Anyway, the hairdresser lady lives in Konz in Germany, and drives in for about 35 minutes each day. If I understand correctly, in Germany a single woman with no children pays 42% tax, whereas in Luxembourg there are 23 income tax brackets - she was paying 18%. So, for a wash and cut - was €27. I didn’t want it blown dry, or to have lots of products on it, as we all know that some hairdressers can make hair look good, but only of use if we can replicate ourselves! Hair now shorter as it used to be - won’t really know if it’s a good cut until I’ve washed it! Oh, so much easier being a man!

After the industrial baguette, used the services for Dave. The machine didn’t say what sort of coin to put in for water, so we tried €1, and had plenty!

Tintin drove, luckily took a wrong turn, so I jumped out at a Cactus SA supermarket and bought more essentials of coke and milk! We then drove for about an hour to Vianden. Very pleasant scenery, good road surfaces, and not much traffic. Didn’t arrive until 3pm. Tintin ran up to the cable car to find out when it closed for the day, as we’d read it took about 2 hours to view the castle. She recommended cable car up, and walk down - so we did. Cable car was €7 for both of us one way. Goes from an altitude of 230 to 440m. Not really sure when I started to not like heights! Took about 10 minutes to get to the top - and it slowed to a stop a few times, which was a bit disconcerting! The castle was another 10 minute walk down from there through steep paths.

Entrance to Château de Vianden was €14 for both of us. Maybe it’s good to visit later in the day, as it wasn’t too busy. Seemed to run on German efficiency - one map and you follow a numbered circuit! Not going to bore you with all the details! Suffice to say the castle was constructed from the 11th to the 14th century on the foundations of a Roman fort. Until the beginning of the 15th century it was the seat of the influential counts of Vianden who could boast their close connections to the Royal Family of France and the German imperial court.

In 1820, under the reign of King William I of Holland, the castle was sold piece by piece, and as a result, it fell into a state of ruin. It was a pile of rubbish until the family of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred it to the State’s ownership in 1977 and has since been restored to its former glory.

Easy walk back down the hill to Dave. The carpark has nearly emptied out, and we’ll stay here the night...

Here’s all the photos of the Château.