To Luxembourg then Brussels, March 31, 2006

The run for the finish line (find caches in the last two counties, on my list) began long before the sun came up. My last day in Paris wore me out. I was in bed by 10 and woken up around 1am.

Some coed spring breakers arrived at the hotel and just couldn't figure out how to use a key to open the door. After about 10 minutes of listening to them, I started to laugh and got dressed. I opened my door and saw startled all four of them.

I spoke broken 'inglish' and pretended to be a Frenchman. I asked what was the problem, "Do you not have keys in America?" "You graduated from University, no?" "Maybe this big strong man should protect you for the rest of your visit?" Their awkward responses, showed just how naive they were.

I showed them the trick to opening the door (pull on the handle) and then said "If a regular Joe from Connecticut can figure it out - You four can to. Welcome to Paris." The smiles all around were precious.

I was back in bed and snoring long before the 'worldly travelers' chatted themselves to sleep.

My alarm at 5 am was not welcome, but I had to get and keep moving. I woke up the desk clerk. That couch could not be very comfortable. As I waited for the taxi, and during the ride to the train station, I saw Paris waking up. I had apprehension as to how this visit would be and was pleasantly surprised at what I good time I had, in Paris.

The train ride from Gare de Lyon to Luxembourg City was uneventful. With the exception of a few business people, the car was empty. Watching the French countryside roll by, I thought about how soon this adventure would end. In 48 hours, I would be boarding the airplane for home.

Welcome to Luxembourg:


I guess the city is growing. I stored my luggage and started walking toward one of the geocaches.








Needless to say, the cache wasn't there - I started on my way to the next easy cache.


My walk brought me to picturesque area:










The cache site is in this picture - can you guess where it is?






Having completed my search, I started my hike out of the valley. I still had to get to Brussels, find a hotel and ...

I hopped a bus to get back up to city level. Unfortunately, the bus driver did not speak a word of english. It took me a minute to figure out that I had to put the fare on a little table and he would deposit it. For the first time, in a while, I felt like a fish out of water.



At the top of the hill, near some government buildings (palaces?), I hopped off and wandered through the small streets heading generally toward the train station. I stopped at a restaurant for lunch. As dad used to say, MMMMmmmm Graaaaaveeeee." I said, "MMMMmmmm BEEEEEEER."

Coming out of the valley, there were a lot more people talking english. I grabbed a taxi to the station, where the cabbie said that most Luxembourgers do speak english. Very well I might add.

I grabbed my luggage and a couple beers for the ride to Brussels.

Central Station in Brussels is near the Grand Place and so was my hotel. Another marble covered bathroom, king size bed, well stocked mini fridge... I arrived with plenty of time to search for caches. I didn't find any, but I did find lots of chocolate.



Grand Place (Grand Plaza)(Grand Palace):




Oh yeah - PRIMUS SUCKS!!!


After a few hours of hunting between the Grand Place and the park near the Royal Palace, I had no luck. I was worried that this country may go without a find. I had a nice dinner and who knew, Belgium has biere. I think the beer, chocolate and waffles would have tasted better, if I didn't have to still find a cache to complete my quest.





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