DAY 236 - LUXEMBOURG TO LONGWY: 19.3 MILES (36,600 STEPS)

15 December, 2011

19.3 miles (Total: 2336.6 miles) –36,600 (Total: 5,018,201 steps)

I was enjoying myself too much and feeling too much at home, so I knew I had to get moving or I would not reach Verdun by Christmas. The compromise in my mind was that I would walk to Longwy and from there catch the train back to Luxembourg where we had been invited to see the premier of a new British theatre production and join the after show reception.

As I prepared to set off from breakfast in the kitchen, suddenly everyone decided they were going to come along for the first part of the walk too, and that included Dido (pic)—so with great excitement everyone assembled and off we went in search of Rue de Longwy. We found it soon enough and most people went off in their required directions, but Pete Smith joined me all the way to Dippach.

Even though I had only been a house guest for a few days, I felt part of the family—the night before we had all gathered to decorate the Christmas tree with a steady supply wine, food and great humour. I hadn’t experienced this since I had been with the Marusic family in Split, Croatia and now as then I didn’t want to leave. Setting out for Longwy was my first step…….

The walk was unremarkable except for the fact that I started off walking in Luxembourg, walked briefly through Belgium and then ended up in France again, bringing home to me the close knitted community of continental Europe.

In the afternoon the weather turned very bad again, so bad that I needed to make a couple of unscheduled stops at a KFC in Baschange, which was next to an InterSport where there was a closing down sale and I managed to get a pair of Gortex gloves with 30% off. So delirious was I with the bargain on the gloves and the KFC, that I took the wrong road into Longwy – adding an unappreciated hour to my journey.  This also meant that I was not now going to make it back in time for the theatre.

When I eventually arrived back at the Residence, some of the guests were already arriving back from the theatre where the production had received mixed reviews and even the brief frisson caused by male and female nudity did not fully seem to compensate. As the theatre goers began to arrive back, so the house was filling up with UK Trade & Investment team members for the Benelux Conference, which would take place the next day, again at the Residence.

I turned in fairly early as I was still freezing cold and the fires in the residence could not be lit because they were waiting for a health and safety check and a chimney sweep before they were certified.