Fraluxemrier

After last weekend, when Kate and I successfully crossed the Finnish line, we felt like we needed a little break from traveling. But because we still wanted to take advantage of the three-day weekend Uncle Sam mandated, we decided to drive to some highly acclaimed places near us that we hadn’t been to yet: Lorraine, Luxembourg, and Trier.

Lorraine
We left Wiesbaden around 11 a.m. – three hours later than “planned” because we were glued watching Ashton Kutcher’s surprisingly good show “Beauty and the Geek.”

Our first stop was Nancy, the former capital of this formerly German territory, and only about two and a half hours away by car. The only reason we stopped here was to see Place Stanislas, a huge pedestrianized square in the center of the city that is as sissy as the name of the town itself. It had gilded wrought iron gates entering the square, gilded lanterns, gilded fountains, and other opulence that echoed Versailles.

As you can see, it was sunny. Luckily for us, this part of Europe shed its Cirrus Maximus earlier than usual this year, meaning we’ve had some brilliantly sunny days these past few weeks. Unluckily for us, it meant you’d be walking in this square, taking in the beautiful examples of mid-18th-century architecture, and be temporarily blinded by a sudden ray of sun. (For Pecos, it seems the wind was more of a problem).

Next was Metz, a half-hour back toward Wiesbaden and home to one of the biggest flea markets in Europe. We skipped the flea market. Not our thing. Instead we headed for the green parts of the map because we had Pecos with us and knew he would enjoy chasing swans and children alike. And that he did.
Metz we loved. It had a languid waterway that was more stream than river pacing through the center. It had a large grassy park on either side of said stream, complete with drunk French youths tackling each other in a very sissy way and rollerbladers narrowly missing small children. It had an adorable and yet enormous maze of pedestrian streets. And it had two beautiful churches.

Here’s the main church, Cathedral St. Etienne in Metz. And here’s my favorite: some church whose name we couldn’t figure out on the island in the center of town. Beautimous! We followed up our walk with a hearty French meal. Savory crepes for dinner. Sweet crepes for dessert. What a country!

The next day was Pecos’s fifth birthday. And what would Pecos like more on his birthday than to see Luxembourg and Trier?

Luxembourg

An hour’s drive north brought us to the capital city of yet another country Pecos has been to (making 11 in total now). Luxembourg I think is cool because it’s the last remaining Grand Duchy in the world, they speak another language there (Heck, the place is called Lëtzebuerg in that language) and they have the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Kate thought it was cool because it was easy to people watch from the numerous delightful cafés as well as amble through the narrow, cobblestone streets and not worry about losing your way (because it’s a very manageable size for a city).
She also like watching the changing of the guard outside the Duke’s residence.

Pecos thought it was fun because they had sticks.

But he also thought it was a little chilly.
Trier

Last up was Trier: the oldest city in Germany.

Trier was everything we thought a European city should be. It was old. It was compact. It had many fantastic churches. It had old ruins (the Porta Nigra, so called because of the darkness of the stone, is one of the most famous Roman ruins outside of Italy). It had a river running through it (the Moselle, the same streamy river that runs through Metz). It was surrounded by steep, wooded and vineyard-covered slopes. And it was walking friendly – as noted by the wide pedestrian areas dotted with French fry and ice cream shops.

The sights that interested us most were a large stone cross erected over a thousand years ago – and still standing.
The Dreikönigenhaus, a nobleman's town residence dating from 1230, whose original entrance was so high it could only be reached by a retractable ladder that could easily be removed when trouble arouse.

And, of course, the Porta Nigra, which Pecos found a little boring.
After a kebap and a walk around the city, we drove the serpentine roads along the Moselle River for an hour, admiring the innumerable vineyards and counting down the days until I could sip wine again (it’s still only February!).