8 January 1977 - Saturday
We thought Susanna was sick this morning (i.e., yesterday morning) but she seems to have been mainly tired and disoriented, for she was fine by the afternoon. We saw the Pearsons and their son Nat was in the same shape. They even tried to get him to the doctor but couldn’t find the right place and the doctors don’t seem to open on Saturday.
We decided to change hotels. The Hotel de l’Avenue has no baths and we were dirty. We discovered that we were to check out by 10:00 (we made it by 11:00); packed all our bags and set them in the narrow hall downstairs. I sat with Susanna in the cafe while Alice searched for a hotel. Within 30 minutes she was back with a taxi which got us one block down the Avenue de la Liberte (for 130 francs + 70 tip) to the Hotel Molitor, which had a private bath with the room (960 francs). Alice and Susanna got a brief rest while I walked to the train station for more Luxembourg francs [and] then to the Cafe de l’Avenue to meet the Marx’s.
Susanna gradually came awake as we drove with the Marx’s (in their VW Squareback) first east past the airport to the American Military Cemetery (also Gen. Patton’s grave) where over 5,000 Americans killed in the Battle of the Bulge fighting in Jan 1944 are buried.
Then we went north: [1] stopped at Patton Monument at Ettelbruck, drove up to Grand Ducal Residence at Calmer-Berg (before Ettlebruck), then to Vianden.
There we parked and looked at the very old town, its church with two naves and a creche that lighted up and played music and started a waterfall when you dropped in a coin. Then we went to a cafe in the Hotel Reunion to tea and beer.
From Vienden we drove south along the German border, separated by the river Our, then the Sure (at Reisdorf). To Echternach. This old town has a basilica (in Gothic form) dedicated to St. Willibrord (also there a marble sarcophagus with his remains), which we saw.
From Vienden, Nicolas had called to reserve a table at a restaurant at Ahn. We got there much too early so went on to Ehnen to the Millesime bar where we had wine (Riesling--locally grown and produced) and Susanna, Danny, & Patricia ran around and Susanna hurt her lip again. Both Ehnen and Ahn are on the River Moselle (Mausel). (Mausel is the name of a popular Lux beer also).
The restaurant at Ahn is the Restaurant J.P. Mathes. We had reservations for 7:00 and were expected through 7:30; arrived at 7:15. We all had the Friture de Poissons de Moselle, deep-fried “redeye” fish about 3-4 inches long. There were about 10 or 12 fish each. To eat, remove head, tail, backbone, and eat with fingers.
When we returned to Luxembourg City to our hotel, we invited the Marx’s to our hotel lounge for another bottle of wine. It was after midnight before we got to our room. Susanna was still wide awake. At 10:00 a.m. Sunday (at this writing), she is still asleep (as is Alice).
The weather was not good. Temp was in the thirties. It was foggy, even snowed a little and rained most of the day -- a light drizzle.
[1] Also drove by the houses that Pauline’s parents and Nicol’s parents (and he himself) had once lived respectively, before the war. I don’t remember the towns.
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