Today, I decided to go to a really great bakery that was mentioned online. The one I chose is called MAMA according to those reviews, but its actually a complex of things that might include a shelter, a commune and a bakery. It’s called Mama’s Shelter on Google Maps.
And so I walked to the Place de Paris and took the tram in the direction of Luxexpo, and got off at MUDAM in the Kirschberg area. It was very easy to find. Once I got there I discovered that they not only had great bakery items but also sandwiches! Am going back tomorrow morning to buy 1/2 sandwich, a pastry and another Napolitan.
After that, I took the tram to Hamilius and had an early lunch at La Brasserie, arriving by 11:30. This time, I had the a la carte menu, but it was marvelous. Gazpacho done the Spanish way (with a wide black straw), a Quiche Lorraine and salad (and french fries, which I ignored.) I ended the meal with one sccop of caramel ice cream.
Because I had that wonderful pastry with me, I walked back to Hotel Perrin to leave it safely inside my room. Just as I arrived, the housekeeper arrived to do my room, so I waited the ten minutes it took her to do it.
Then I walked to the station (Gare Centrale) found Quai 1 and got on bus number 14 in the direction of Cents, Waassertuerm to take me to Grund, the low-lying area of Luxembourg City, right by the Alzette river.. I got off at Dinselpuert, because that’s where Google maps told me to get off. However, I was very far up from Grund, so walked down the hill, the way the bus had come. Soon I heard the sound of running water, and leaning over, discovered a path that led down to the Alzette.
Of course I shouldn’t have done this as the path was way too steep for me, and it didn’t help that it had been partly washed out during a recent storm. But once I got down to the river, I could see the Bock Casemates by looking up. I took some photos, and tried to orient myself to where the violet statue of Melusina was. Naturally, I walked the wrong way. But once I discovered that, I walked back and enjoyed walking along the bank opposite the statue, until I was stopped by roadworks.
So I crossed the old bridge, and found myself climbing up and onto a road that was going to take me up to the Bock Casemates. Peering back at where I’d come from, I discovered I’d missed a bunch of stairs leading down to the bank of the Alzette, on the other side from the old church.
I made my way back there, and voila! found myself next to Melusina. Now I had to find a way out and then get a bus as it was beginning to rain. I walked straight to the “main road” (a cobbled street) and spied a bus stop opposite marked Stadgronn Breck, and indeed there was an old bridge nearby over a charming stream. However, by this time it was pouring rain, and this bus stop was not in service due to road works. I took a photo of the path of the 23 bus, which should have stopped there and decided that if I followed the road over the bridge, and kept following it, I would find the bus stop at Rumm, which the bus had used earlier.
So, with only a flimsy umbrella for covering, I walked over the bridge, turned left and made my way along the road, avoiding cul-de-sacs. At one fork the road narrowed as it turned right, while the wider left fork seemed to go to a main road. I walked left and soon saw a bus in the distance. Wonderful! I found two bus stops across from each other and met a group of women (I think a mother and at least one daughter and possibly a school friend) and I asked if any of them spoke English. I told them I wanted to go to the station, and the young teen quickly found out that I should use Bus 14. I looked at the schedule and yes, it did go to the Gare Centrale. Then I finally saw the sign of the bus-stop. I had made it to Rumm.
It took about ten minutes for the bus to arrive, but when it did we all piled on. Somehow I found a seat and was able to sit comfortably for the ten or fifteen minutes it took the bus driver to get us to the Gare Centrale. By that time, the rain had stopped, so all I had to do was to walk back to the hotel.
What a day! I hadn’t planned much, but I had seen a lot.
