French food, but not French quality

Breakfast was a lot like the one at the Stayokay in Amsterdam, but with less selection of bread, meats, and cheeses I mixed it up by making a sandwich, but it was no better As a bonus, they had some pears and bananas (I stole one for the road), and the pineapple juice was a nice touch

Having some time before the train to Luxembourg, I picked up some food at the station - water, fruit salad, and bread baked with roasted bell peppers The bread was pretty tasty, but a little hard - too bad there wasn't cheese or meat, in addition to the peppers The fruit salad had some huge raspberries, honeydew, pineapple, strawberries, and some other very sour berries

It was another long train day - between taking a nice nap, and admiring the beautiful Belgian countryside and its numerous charming little towns, I read more of "A Tale of Two Cities"

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It's funny how I've only read 60 pages in the past two years, but have now read about 100 in the last few days If this pattern continues, I should be done in another five years, or so!

Luxembourg - having just missed the bus that would take me to the historic centre, I decided just to walk it The next bus was scheduled to arrive in 30 minutes, and I could probably walk there in about 20 It was not an easy hike, as most of it was uphill but luckily, it wasn't too hot out It's quite the sight as you approach up a bridge, because the old town is walled, and sits atop a cliff, with a lush, verdant valley below An Aussie dude I met in the Copenhagen hostel told me that people describe it as being something out of a fairytale - a fairly accurate description, in my opinion

The hostel was shiny and new, but has a bit of an institutional feel to it The ensuite bathroom smelled a little bit funky I quickly left my bag and was off to look around the town It absolutely poured, soon after I left the hostel - I was completely soaked, but that didn't stop me from sightseeing like a madman I need to see everything today, because I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning

I did pop into St

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Michael's church, for a little refuge from the wet and cold Random bits of Spanish were being spoken and there were a ton of Italian tourists also hiding from the elements One lady could have passed for Spanish

Luxembourg City was quite quiet today, but still a nice spot to visit There was a children's sports festival taking place in the main square, which died with the rain, and sprang back to life as soon as the sun returned

I walked around town - there isn't much in the way of sights, but the City itself is what most come to see I tried looking for an internet cafe, but it was closed for renovations A sign referred me to a second location, which happened to be closed today A sign at the second location referred me to the one near the train station, but I didn't feel like hiking all the way down and back up again

Not having much to do, I had an early dinner at a French restaurant The restaurant had a dated look, and they seem to like playing 80s-style power ballads They're big on table-side service here, as it seemed as though half the tables were served that way

The bread was very hard - garbage

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! The set menu offered quiche Lorraine as a starter I tried the Diekirch beer - average The main dish was Coq au Riesling - a bit of a spin on the traditional French dish of Coq au vin, substituting red wine with a readily-available varietal from the nearby Rhine and Mosel Valley wine-growing regions in Germany With Luxembourg bordering both France and Germany, the dish was a bit of a nod to both countries A very pedestrian meal, this evening - this shouldn't have been a surprise, given the low prices here compared to the neighbouring restaurants

But still, the beauty of French cuisine is that, despite having a reputation for being expensive, one can take simple and inexpensive ingredients, and with careful preparation, end up with stunning results Case in point - a cassoulet I once had in Carcassonne (see blog entry entitled "A mix of Disney, baguette, fromage, and merde!" http://wwwtravelpodcom/travel-blog-entries/pwong/europe_2006/1153739220/tpodhtml?tweb_UID=pwong )

I wandered around the old town town and amazingly, I managed to walk for quite some time, despite it being so small I went back to the hostel and used the internet - I saw the two American girls from the Amsterdam hostel, but they didn't say anything to me, so I didn't say anything to them

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It was a brisk, chilly evening, but I found the hostel too hot, so sat outside, reading until it got too dark to see I needed to change my plans for tomorrow - the Clervaux Chateau is closed Mondays, so I will visit the castle at Vianden, instead