Mer and Richard arrived safe and sound last night, but were also bagged from a long day of travelling, so they had a bit of a lie-in this morning. We then trooped over to the hostel for one of their amazing omelettes. Irv was not feeling too crisp, so he decided to stay back while the three of us went up to Haute Ville to explore and take in a free walking tour of the city. We walked along the Bock Casements so they could see the view of the lower part of the town, called Grund, then on to the Chemin de Corniche, which gives a slightly different view of the lower part of Luxembourg City. We wandered through the streets over to the tourist info office, and then M&R decided to go take a peek inside Notre Dame since I had already seen it yesterday. We made our way over to the Monument of Dicks and Lentz, an homage to two poets from L’bourg, where we were to meet up with our Free Tour guide. The tour was most informative, with a lot of the history of Luxembourg woven into the sights. Founded in 963, the country has changed hands many times over the centuries, from the French, Belgians, Germans, Dutch, Spanish and Austrians. Almost every nearby country has had their turn at being the head honchos of this duchy, whose leader is, not a king, but a Grand Duke. Our guide, Carol, explained that Luxembourg is a melange of many different cultures, over 160, and is becoming even more so as they welcome people from all parts of the world. Some 70% of the population is foreign-born. Luxembourg’s past economy was based in steel and agriculture, but is now based on finance. It has the highest per capita GDP in the world, at $138,000.
Our two-hour tour hit most of the highlights of the Ville Haute, and provided a good perspective on this tiny country - only about 2500 square kilometres, and with a population less than that of Calgary or Edmonton, at 660 000.
Mer and Richard hadn’t had enough walking, so they continued on to search out the funicular and a five storey elevator to take them down to the lower part of the city. I opted to head to Monoprix to pick up some grocs, then head back to the apartment. However on my way back, who should i come across but Irv, sitting on a bench in front of the Museum National of History and Art. He was feeling better, so we decided to take in some of the museum (free) before connecting with M&R. Met up with them and had a great dinner at one of the many sidewalk restaurants. A walk back to the flat to plan our next day’s adventure.