The campsite in the little town of Alzingen,a suburb of Luxembourg,was very pleasant and well equipped-and a reasonable price at £10(unlike the going rate in Norway and Sweden which is about £25).It was clearly just a transit camp,and busy,as very shortly after I arrived at 4pm the sign went up saying “Camping Complet”.And then most of the campers had already left by the time I got going in the morning.I think that sums up my experience of Luxembourg city-it has history but seemed a rather grey and dour place and is a crossroads of major European routes which people for centuries have passed by on a journey elsewhere(maybe my judgement was coloured by the fact that I was there just when everyone was rushing home at 5pm on Friday evening?).The Luxembourg countryside I would rate more highly, though.It is open hilly countryside,partially wooded,and scenic,running into the Moselle wine region.It is on a similar scale as Gloucestershire, and looks good for walking.
I did my sightseeing early today, and drove just the 50km to Trier, over the border into Germany again. Trier (French name: Treves) has a huge amount of history and altogether seems a much brighter and more interesting place than Luxembourg. It is on the river Moselle, and is capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate. It has a gingerbread-house Germanic centre(although a fair amount has been restored after WW2 damage)and today it was heavy with crowds and there were busy fruit and vegetable markets in several of the squares. Trier’s history goes back to the Romans, for whom it was an important city. There are several impressive Roman remains. The original Roman grid street plan remains and the northern city gate remains as a huge intact edifice, the Porta Nigra. One of the bridges over the Moselle is Roman, and is the oldest bridge north of the Alps still carrying traffic. The Emperor Constantine had a palace here ,and his throne–room, called Constantine’s Basilica,or Aula Palatina,is intact(and dates from the early 4th century)This huge hall is the largest single-roomed Roman structure remaining anywhere, and is now used as a Protestant church. There are remains of three Roman baths, and a reasonably impressive Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre has had its stage floor authentically restored by building a wooden floor on top of the basement ruins, and then gravelling it over. You could go down into the cellars, under the arena, and pop up by steps in the middle of the arena, or come in from side doors.
I did my sightseeing early today, and drove just the 50km to Trier, over the border into Germany again. Trier (French name: Treves) has a huge amount of history and altogether seems a much brighter and more interesting place than Luxembourg. It is on the river Moselle, and is capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate. It has a gingerbread-house Germanic centre(although a fair amount has been restored after WW2 damage)and today it was heavy with crowds and there were busy fruit and vegetable markets in several of the squares. Trier’s history goes back to the Romans, for whom it was an important city. There are several impressive Roman remains. The original Roman grid street plan remains and the northern city gate remains as a huge intact edifice, the Porta Nigra. One of the bridges over the Moselle is Roman, and is the oldest bridge north of the Alps still carrying traffic. The Emperor Constantine had a palace here ,and his throne–room, called Constantine’s Basilica,or Aula Palatina,is intact(and dates from the early 4th century)This huge hall is the largest single-roomed Roman structure remaining anywhere, and is now used as a Protestant church. There are remains of three Roman baths, and a reasonably impressive Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre has had its stage floor authentically restored by building a wooden floor on top of the basement ruins, and then gravelling it over. You could go down into the cellars, under the arena, and pop up by steps in the middle of the arena, or come in from side doors.
 Houses that look so good you could eat them ! |  ...but destroyed in WW2 and built again in the 60's |
The Porta Negra : the Roman gate to Trier
 The Emperor Constantine's bath house |  Trier's Roman amphitheatre.Some idiotic Germans were dressed in Roman tunics and doing gladiator boot camp,which involved running round the arena and up and down the steps in the heat being shouted at.It looks as though,if they haven't collapsed by then ,they get to train with the weapons. |
Constantine's Basilica, early 4th Century
Trier also has an important Christian history, dating from the same late Roman period. Again, it is the seat of the earliest Christian Bishopric north of the Alps. Trier cathedral (Catholic) was founded in 314, in an existing Roman building (and the foundations of that remain under the present cathedral)The bulk of the existing cathedral was built in the early 11th century and is Romanesque in style with later Gothic additions. In the 13th to 15th centuries a second cathedral building was built adjoining the first in a Gothic style.
Trier’s later history is tied up in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate ,and the Elector built a splendid baroque palace adjoining Constantine’s Basilica. There are other baroque buildings dotted through the town, amongst the medieval ones.
Trier’s later history is tied up in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate ,and the Elector built a splendid baroque palace adjoining Constantine’s Basilica. There are other baroque buildings dotted through the town, amongst the medieval ones.
 Trier cathedral. To the left, early 11th century,to the right ,an extra church added in the13th-15th centuries |  Thd Elector's Baroque palace, dwarfed by Constantine's basilica, which it adjoins. |
After a sandwich for lunch I re-joined the autobahn network, heading for my next target, Lichtenstein. I got as far as Ulm before deciding to stop for the day at 6-30 pm,after about five hours driving.My experience of the roads was better today.I had a much more scenic route, starting with the Moselle region,and hilly attractive scenery continued all the way onwards.The roads were free flowing,and often 3 lanes and tarmac although there were an awful lot of roadworks. I stopped at the Ulm park-and-ride just short of the city centre(in German: ‘Park & Ride’)This advertises itself as a camper stop(Wohnmobilstellplatz),which is free,with water supply and waste disposal,with a maximum 3 days stay! I suppose the logic is it that it stops campervans from parking randomly on any spot all over town. It is busy ,with about 70 vans here. It borders the city park where there are a number of popular biergartens and the zoo.A tram comes past every 20 minutes into the city. This is the first time I have knowingly needed my German emissions sticker on the van. Many German cities have low emission zones and you have to display a sticker demonstrating the emissions standard of your vehicle. This costs about £5 and lasts the lifetime of the vehicle, and I had ordered one in advance(although you can buy them at petrol stations).Ulm had signs up stating you needed an emissions sticker to enter(although entry is free)
I saw signs for the “Donau” and I suddenly realised that after 4 weeks I had come full-circle and was back on the banks of the Danube.In the process I have crossed a whole list of famous central European rivers, the Vistula,the Oder,the Trave,the Elbe,the Weser,the Rhine,and the Moselle.
Ulm was the place where Patrick Leigh Fermor, on his walk from Holland to Constantinople, first came across the Danube .It was in the middle of winter, in the snow: "When I was dropped ..(by his lift ).. on the icy cobbles of Ulm, I knew I had reached an important landmark on my journey. For there, in the lee of the battlements, dark under the tumbling flakes and already discoloured with silt, flowed the Danube. It was a momentous encounter..."
In the evening I wandered through the park, past the zoo, and walked for a while along the Danube towpath, here quite a small river. On the way back I stopped at a couple of biergartens. One had a very loud oompah band playing, and then eventually I strolled on and found huge and bustling outdoor Italian Pizza restaurant where I ate.
I saw signs for the “Donau” and I suddenly realised that after 4 weeks I had come full-circle and was back on the banks of the Danube.In the process I have crossed a whole list of famous central European rivers, the Vistula,the Oder,the Trave,the Elbe,the Weser,the Rhine,and the Moselle.
Ulm was the place where Patrick Leigh Fermor, on his walk from Holland to Constantinople, first came across the Danube .It was in the middle of winter, in the snow: "When I was dropped ..(by his lift ).. on the icy cobbles of Ulm, I knew I had reached an important landmark on my journey. For there, in the lee of the battlements, dark under the tumbling flakes and already discoloured with silt, flowed the Danube. It was a momentous encounter..."
In the evening I wandered through the park, past the zoo, and walked for a while along the Danube towpath, here quite a small river. On the way back I stopped at a couple of biergartens. One had a very loud oompah band playing, and then eventually I strolled on and found huge and bustling outdoor Italian Pizza restaurant where I ate.
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