Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a tiny little postage stamp of a country sandwiched in the middle of Europe, between France, Belgium, and Germany. You could almost miss it driving by, except that is, if you are driving all the way from Paris, in which case it takes so long to get there that when you finally arrive, you might want to kiss that lady whose voice keeps coming out of the Tom Tom saying "you have arrived at your destination."

But seriously folks. No really, Luxembourg is a very pretty little country, at least what we saw of it over last weekend, when the weather was just about perfect: all green fields and pastel colored houses, sun-kissed vineyards and sparkling waterways. And if you're wondering why bother going, at least for us, the reason was clear. My mother-in-law's parents were Luxembourgers and we're still in touch with cousins whose forebears never left the old country. We spent time with them in the medieval town of Echternach and in their own smaller village nearby, and also enjoyed strolling with them along the banks of the Moselle which separates the Luxembourgers from their German neighbors. The country's language sounds German to me but there are lots of French words thrown in and they all say "merci", not "danke." So "merci" to the cousins -- for the lovely dinner and local wine, the travel commentary, the insight on family and national history, and even for arranging for our youngest child to pat a newborn calf, a side benefit of a trip to the village dairy for fresh milk. You sure can't do that in Paris.