Metz isn’t far from Luxembourg — less than an hour due south by car or by train. In Luxembourg, its Christmas Markets are well-known but not as popular as those of Trier. With friends willing to join us this year, it was finally time to see them for ourselves.
We began at the train station, where there were a few chalets and something quite unusual in France…
A Nativity scene! A manger! A crèche — in a public space in France? Surely not?! (more…)
For two beautiful weeks I was caught up on blogging…. two beautiful weeks. As the end of the year looms, I hope to get the last two posts completed before we say goodbye to 2015. We shall see if I succeed!
The first week of September was quiet, which I appreciated after the hectic summer. My plan to relax and get caught up on some housework the first weekend were thwarted by a most-excellent interruption – the repaving of our street! After over a year of heavy construction the project was completed and it was time for fresh and smooth pavement. I spent hours on the front balcony, watching the pavement “chewers” and then the asphalt-laying on the second day. I had so much fun watching everything from our 4th floor balcony. It was like the best box seat at the big event. 
Hours of enjoyment for all! There were big chewers and little chewers and workers all over!
Paving day was the best! I had to wake Will up early so we didn’t miss any of the action!
We did stop paying attention to the street on Saturday night so we could celebrate the birthday of a good friend at a winery in Germany. I only bought 6 bottles of wine, demonstrating my ability to control my wine-buying habit. (more…)
Let’s look back at the 2012 Tour de France! After La Planche des Belles Filles, we drove a little way off the course to our hotel in Mulhouse, which is not far from the Swiss border. Also in our hotel: the promotion team for Nesquik. We enjoyed watching their nightly routine — mostly refilling the hoppers for the young women who tossed goodies to the crowds each day.
This first photo is where we watched Stage 8 the next morning: halfway up a small mountain above Saint-Hippolyte in Doubs. It would be a magnificent race for some of our favorite cyclists. (more…)
In late May, we poured over maps of the stages of the Tour de France. This year, we said, we would travel to see the cyclists climb the real mountains that we’ve seen so many times on TV.
The Alps didn’t fit our schedules and the Pyrenees — well, they are very far away. But there are also real mountains in one of our favorite regions, Alsace-Lorraine (and parts of Franche-Comté), and those stages fell on a convenient weekend. So we found a budget hotel and booked one night, planning to watch two stages.
We were excited about the finish of Stage 7 on the top of La Planche des Belles Filles, which has an incline of 22% for the last 500 meters! Anita’s only concern was whether she could keep from yelling at all the fans that always crowd around the leaders on the top of the big climbs.
It was lovely weather when we arrived in Lorraine.
We stayed overnight just outside of Mulhouse, not more than an hour away. We were exhausted and spent what little energy we had strategizing for Stage 8.
Some related webpages:
Anyone that spends thirty minutes with me will learn that I love soda, specifically products made by the Coca-Cola company.
In the past, I was a Diet Coke gal, but then Coke Zero stole my heart.
Anyone that spends a day with me will realize that caffeine has a powerful effect on my system. In the US and Ireland, I tried to manage that by drinking caffeine-free Diet Coke as much as possible.
Then we moved to Luxembourg. (more…)
Some of us continued our trend of getting out to local Luxembourg-ville events this weekend. Some of us had the stomach flu and had to stay home. Which would you prefer to hear about, loyal Bugle followers? (more…)
The US State Department released a broad travel advisory for Europe on Sunday. It cautioned Americans who are traveling to Europe to be extra vigilant. As one would expect, some of our loved ones in the US expressed concern over our safety. Suffice it to say, I have felt safe and continue to feel safe in Luxembourg. In fact, I cannot imagine a safer place to be.
But feeling safe and actually being safe are two different things. So, in the interest of learning as much as possible, I checked my usual online newspapers on Monday. The most prominent piece was in the Wall Street Journal. The article was reasonable in its tone, but the photo and video captions made be laugh. Not a “ha-ha” laugh: I was laughing at you, American newsmedia. You amuse me.
(more…)
The Tour isn’t over until the UCI says it is.
Alberto Contador finished the riding stages of the Tour de France on July 25, with the best time of all the competitors. Andy Schleck had the second best time.
Today, Contador’s publicist revealed that a doping test of Contador’s blood, taken on a rest day during the Tour, was positive for a banned substance.
Worse yet, the violation occurred the day before Andy Schleck attacked Contador fiercely and repeatedly on the Col du Tourmalet. Contador withstood every test, as Andy noted in that evening’s interview:
I changed rhythm and I tried everything but I think we’re on the same level on the climbs. … I tried to find out how he was feeling. You need to look at someone to see how he was coping. I think you can find out a lot if you look someone in the eyes. He didn’t have the sunglasses on today so it was possible to see, that’s why I looked so many times. But he always looked good and that’s kind of what killed me. … El Pistolero [Contador] is strong, huh? I could not drop him. He was always there. I wanted to find out if he was getting weak but he didn’t succumb. He even attacked me to show, ‘Hey, listen young boy, I’m still here! You better stop playing these games with me.’
So, wow, and…
Yay! Andy won the Tour!
Not so fast. (more…)
Why did thousands of people come to Place Clairefontaine last Thursday? As always, there is a simple answer that glosses a complex situation.
The simple answer is that Luxembourg’s government changed the laws in a way that many consider unfair to people who work in Luxembourg but live across its borders.
Not satisfied with that? (more…)
Many, many people do crazy, crazy things to attract the cameras covering the Tour de France.
Now that you’ve seen the photos from my first appearance at the Tour, take a look at how the media covered my presence.
Due to my local renown, all I must do to appear on the broadcast is stand near the course. (more…)
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