Wandering around Esch-sur-Sûre

It’s our last full day of holiday today so we’ve spent it relaxing in Esch-sur-Sûre. Tomorrow, we drive back up to Dunkirk, ready to catch the ferry back to Dover on Sunday morning. Two weeks have flown by!

The morning began with a lie in, then croissants and coffee for breakfast. Three ducks, who’d also visited yesterday evening, came for some breakfast too… a slice of bread 🦆

I’d downloaded a hike in the hills around Esch but unfortunately the start of the route was blocked because of forestry work. John was well aware of the forestry work having been woken by their machinery! Never mind… instead, we wandered along the River Sûre into the town before heading off steeply uphill… another near-vertical ascent 🤷🏼‍♀️

As with other walks that we’ve done in Luxembourg, the views were amazing. Esch is circled by a meander of the river, and pretty slate roofed houses are nestled together at the foot of a rocky outcrop with remains of a castle on top.

After visiting the viewpoints, we headed back down hill and along lanes to visit a dam on the river. The lake that has formed behind the dam is used for recreational activities in summer.

Back in town, we wandered along the loop in the river before heading up the narrow and picturesque streets to the castle. The castle dates back to AD 927 and remained in use until the French destroyed it in 1795. It would have been easy to defend, perched on the steep cliff and surrounded by a bend in the river.

By now my tummy was rumbling so we headed back down to a quirky café for lunch. The weather’s been lovely today and we enjoyed sitting outside with a beer. I even had an obligatory holiday ice cream 😊

After lunch, we climbed several flights of steep steps to the castle watch tower, from where there were more lovely views over the town. Then we wandered back to the campsite.

This evening we’re going back into the town for dinner… a treat for our last relaxing day. I don’t think we’ve spent as much as usual this holiday, partly because a lot of bars and restaurants are closed this early in the season, but also because we’re conscious of retirement looming, and trying to be more frugal! We might as well spend the rest of our euros though 😜