We arrived at the train station about an hour before our train was due to depart, so we grabbed a juice and roll (coffee for Jan), then went out to the platform to wait. As we waited we again saw armed soldiers walking around. It sure is disconcerting seeing them, unlike at home. We were finally allowed to board the train, and settled down for the trip. This time, I was able to put our luggage close by, so it would be easier to move off at the stop at our destination, as the train would only be stopping for 2 minutes. What an exhilarating ride!
As we started moving faster and faster, we noticed a couple of guys with a huge movie camera coming down the aisle. As our seats were right at the doorway, we were close enough to see what they were doing. There was a small TV screen in the doorway, showing the speed of the train, and they were apparently trying to verify how fast the train was moving. It sure seemed fast to me, but I was surprised to see how really fast it was. I just had to go and take a picture of it, but by then we'd slowed a bit. I actually saw almost 10km higher than I was able to get.At SaarBrucken we had a fair hike to get off the platform and find the car rental location, which was in the station, however, it was outside and along the front of the station. True to form, the agent spoke very limited English, which may or may not have been a blessing. He took all the information, and processed the rental, without blinking at the copy of my license. Praise the Lord! We got a very nice Renault Scenic, which looks like a squashed
mini van. It is slightly bigger than the Vauxhall we had in England, is Diesel-powered, very quiet, smooth, and comes with a built-in GPS, but we like Blondie, better and so the two of them will be fighting each other. ha ha. I unfortunately made a discovery later on in the afternoon, that the doors don't remain locked when I leave the car. This is a MAJOR problem, and we'll have to do something about it asap. Hopefully, I can find another rental location nearby and stop in to ask them what to do. Jan couldn't believe me about the doors, so she wanted to try them out. Sure enough the doors were locked, but as soon as I approached the car, the doors automatically unlocked. So we tried again. I locked the car, gave Jan the keys, then I tried to open the doors. nada, nothing, locked tight. Sooooo we deduced that the proximity of the key actually unlocked the doors, without pushing the button. What a relief.The drive northwest along the German-French border, was pleasant. We stopped for some lunch just after entering Luxembourg, at a small place called DudeLange, then carried on to Luxembourg. Again I'm not impressed with the signage. Fortunately, the GPS is very good, but even when we reach a spot she says is the destination, we have trouble seeing/finding it. We saw some of the sights in the center of town, but couldn't find proper parking, and had trouble with the crowds, so we pushed on towards Liege, where we thougth we'd stay the night. We finally located an information station, in the middle of nowhere in a narrow little lane, where Jan was able to get some info on B&B's and hotels in town. We tried a few of the B&B's but were unimpressed with the places or locations. After driving around for a bit, we finally located a reasonably priced hotel in the downtown area, which had parking available underground. It was a nice clean hotel, and the room is no worse and no better than a lot of our Travelodge accommodations in England. So not too bad for our first day in Europe.
We were able to get a few nice pictures. In Luxembourg we took some awesome pictures of their Notre-Dame and the Place du Confederation and a couple of palaces.
It is a very pretty little country. Then our next stop was Liege, Belgium. We are not sure exactly what language they speak here but it seems to be a mixture of French and Flemish. The pictures we have gotten were from the hill top overlooking the valley of Liege. We found this spot while looking for a Bed and Breakfast we never found. It was a good day and I hope tomorrow we will be able to find a tourist Information centre that is for more than just a small area. The tourist info we found today, only had info on The Province of Liege and not on Belgium. Well today we are off to the Netherlands and then we will be heading south again. BFN
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