Today was the second day of the Marche Internationale de Diekirch. There were walks of 12, 20 and 40 km in the program. All three of those routes passed through Bettendorf, so we had company again on a short section of our GR5. The Diekirch walkers soon diverged on the routes that would take them back to their starting point, while our GR5 turned southeast.
During the morning, the trail followed roads across rolling countryside, with occasional forests. Attractive, but too much pavement under our boots. Then, at Beaufort, where we stopped for lunch, we entered "la petite Suisse luxembourgeoise". No more road walking! We entered a world of towering sandstone rocks, eroded and cut by water and other forces of nature. The trail initially followed a stream meandering through a forest bordered by the rocks. Later, as we approached Berdorf, we walked beside and through the tall rock formations. Rock climbers were active there. We regretted that this final section of the trail came at the end of a fairly long hike (25 km), when we were keen to reach our destination (the Hotel Scharff in Berdorf), rather than linger and explore the area.
There was a refreshment stand for the Diekirch walkers in Bettendorf, and it was selling lots of beer and waffles at 8:30 am:
A Luxembourg army contingent passes in review before Carroll:
We've seen several American mailboxes in Belgium and Luxembourg. This one was noteworthy, with its decoration:
According to our topoguide, the GR5 is now marked by green triangles, but the yellow disks continued.
The first big sandstone rocks loomed over the trail as we approached Beaufort:
Beaufort Castle:
La petite Suisse luxembourgeoise:
Rock climbers:
Hotel Scharff in Berdorf:
Brings back memories of our Luxembourg years! We did some rock climbing and hiking in the area - those rocks look seriously familiar:)
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