Vacationing with Vauban

Cancale oysters, fresh from the ocean.

Three weeks ago, Nick and I were on the Brittany coast of France, in the town of Cancale, sitting in the sunshine on concrete steps and slurping raw oysters pulled fresh from the ocean, pried open by women who spend their entire day shucking oysters of all sizes and shapes for locals and tourists who visit their stands. There are normal-looking oysters for the ridiculously inexpensive price of 5€ to 8€ a dozen, and there are also oysters for sale as large as your hand that you’ll wonder how in the world people eat without dripping oyster liquor all over themselves. Then there are the briny Plate-Belons, les plates, the flat regional specialties that the women will tell you to eat as they are; you won’t even be allowed to buy a lemon to take away with your douziane. And no matter which stand you buy your huîtres, you’ll hear the same advice: when you’re finished eating, oyster shells get tossed into the sea; lemon rinds and plastic plates and knives go back to the stand.

What a lineup!

When the tide is high, those concrete steps disappear into the ocean. When the tide is out, sailboats sink lazily into the muddy floor of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. Nearby, men in waterproof bucket pants work the oyster beds on foot or by tractor, meters from where the fruits of their labor are distributed to happy stomachs. All day long, the silhouette of Mont-Saint-Michel sits on the horizon, an especially breathtaking sight against the tangerine glow of sunrise.

Even though it ends in an “r” – as the best oyster-eating months do – October is the off season in Cancale. Which is why we love it there. It’s the only place we’ve been to twice on vacation while living in Europe. I mean, let’s face it: fall colors + quiet seaside town + cheap, fresh oysters + the most unreal deep turquoise ocean you’ve ever seen, well, that all adds up to a pretty stellar vacation for this household.

Oyster beds in Cancale

Lest you think I’m in cahoots with the Cancale Tourism Office by using fancy phrases like “tangerine glow” to describe the sunrise, this post isn’t actually about my vacation. It’s actually about something interesting I learned while on vacation that ties back to Luxembourg.

(But I’m including a few more Cancale tidbits at the end of the post, in case you want to go.)

Wine Tasting in Provence…by Public Bus

I try to make it a rule to never turn down the chance to go to Provence. And a little over a month ago, I had the opportunity to spend exactly one day there.

Nick was headed to a work site near Provence on business, and then on to the Loire Valley area before heading back to Luxembourg. He would be gone for a few days, and, once he realized that he’d be in a car by himself for 20+ hours, decided that it might be a good idea to invite his charming, intellectually stimulating and always entertaining wife to join him for the ride. Oh, okay, fine: he really just wanted a co-pilot along to help keep him awake and to plug addresses into the GPS.

Figuring that four days in France would more than make up for the week of French classes I’d be skipping, I went along for the ride…with an ulterior motive, naturally. Hey, someone in this household has to build our French wine collection while Nick works, right?

Trier & Cochem: The Ultimate Day Trip

Whether you’re in search of castles, vineyards, charming villages or outdoor adventures paired with astounding views, there are loads of great places to visit in and around Luxembourg. But if you’re going to leave the Grand Duchy in search of a cross-border outing, I’d argue that there’s no better bang for your buck than a day trip to the German towns of Trier, Germany’s oldest city, and Cochem, a postcard-perfect wine town on the Mosel.

Before you read on, though, I think I should give you fair warning: this is almost too much blog for one post.

You see, when I take friends and family on day trips, I typically take them to Trier or to Cochem – or to both, on separate days – because there’s a lot of ground to cover in both places. But when my good friend Kelly came to visit last month, calendar constraints meant that I had to rise to the challenge of squeezing both places into one jam-packed (or in our case, Reisling-packed) German adventure. Here’s a rundown of our trip, in case you’d like to attempt the same feat:

The Köln Special

Whether you spell it Köln or Cologne, it's worth the trip from Luxembourg if you're looking for a night out of town. And right now, Luxembourg's rail system (CFL) is offering a Köln Spezial, reducing the ticket price to just 19€ each way, so there's really no excuse not to go - especially since the famous Cologne Carnival season is well underway. More on Carnival in a minute. First, let me give you a little bit of background on the town:

I Heart N(anc)Y

Nancy, France is a stone's throw away from Luxembourg in the car or on the train, and has been on our list of day trips for a while. The city is the capital of the Lorraine region of France (you've had quiche Lorraine, right?) and has its own special flair, but if you blink twice you might think you've stepped into a tiny version of Paris. At least that's how we felt when we stepped off the train in Nancy on a recent weekend.