Intro:
We hiked the last part of the GR 5 trail as it is being described in the topoguide Wallonie - Luxembourg.
After having followed the valley of the river Our for more than 50 km., we're walking away from it and end up in the valley of the river Sûre. The end of this hike is situated at the bridge of Gilsdorf. Our 4-days hike is finished.
Time to dream on about continuing the GR 5 trail ...
Back and forth:
In the morning we took bus 663, bringing us from Camping Kohnenhaff to Vianden. It's a 25 min. ride and the bus stops at the bridge in Vianden. From there it's another kilometer walk (ascending) to the youth hostel where the trail signs are waiting.
Opposite the bridge of Gilsdorf there's a busstop. Almost all busses passing there can take you to the trainstation of Diekirch. The ride takes about 10 minutes.
From Diekirch it went by train to Ettelbrück. It's a short 10 min. ride. From Ettelbrück there are trains going to Troisvierges and further on to Liège in Belgium. The ride to Liège takes a good 2 hours, and then it's another 2 hours to get from Liège to Antwerpen. A long journey ... and we didn't even count the waiting times between trains.
The hike:
In the morning we're breaking up the tent and preparing the backpacks. The bus towards Vianden leaves at 8.55 am, and that gives us the feeling we have to hurry. Without a deadline in time we're free to leave when we're ready for it, and always there's something that still needs to be fixed or arranged. Having to hurry is never a good thing, and yes ... once we've left the camping site, sitting comfortably in the bus, we realise we're missing the topo-guide. That's a pity, it would have been a nice souvenir. Yet, we don't need to worry about the trail. We know where to start in Vianden, and the finish of the hike - the bridge of Gilsdorf - we'll certainly remember that place when we see it. The past few days we noticed that the trail indications were perfect. We'll just have to be a little more alert not to miss any signs, but all in all we're convinced there'll be no problems. Afterwards we can only confirm we were right.
(click the picture for the full series on Picasa)
Yesterday it was a real pleasure to walk from the castle and the youth hostel to the center of Vianden. Today we know that it will be different. It's a climbing road and with the full backpacks we'll feel the difference. But it's the last hike of our four-days vacation and that thought makes things a lot easier.
From the castle the road still climbs further. It allows us nice views of the castle. Yesterday we were standing in front of it and it looked a lot smaller. Now we're viewing it from the side and we're impressed by the dimensions. The whole complex dates essentially from the middle ages with the last changes having been implemented in the 17th century. The real origin of the castle goes back to the 4th century as a roman fortification, further developed during the following centuries by merovingian and carolingian rulers. When Vianden had lost it's political power by the 17th century, the castle quickly fell into decay and was gradually being dismantled. By the end of the 19th century it became the property of the present grand-ducal family. It was finally turned over to the state in 1977 who fully restored the castle into all of its medieval splendor. The result is outstanding. Today the castle of Vianden is one of the best examples of the romanesque and gothic building styles in Europe.
The GR 5 trail now leads us slowly descending towards Bettel, the last village visited along the river Our.
Now follows an equally slow and long ascent away from the river towards Longsdorf. A little arbour is a good place to take a rest and to enjoy the wide rolling landscape. We pass along the cross of Marxberg and finally we're in Longsdorf. Peace and quiet everywhere, it seems like as if we're all alone on this planet. We had expected meeting quite a few GR 5 hikers along the trail during these days, but we didn't meet any ... We do realise the trail is extremely long, and that it can only be a coincidence to meet other hikers right at the place and time where we happen to be on the trail, but nevertheless, we can't imagine finding the same situation along the immensely popular St.-James routes to Compostella. Nowadays it takes a hype to get people to move and to show an interest in something. And as a consequence everybody wants to do the same things at the same moment. The advantage for us is that on the other trails we can still feel like privileged VIP's in our exclusive and well-hidden environments. Thanks to the hypes! Isn't that positive?
Having left Longsdorf behind us we still have one solid (but rather short) climb in front of us. We're going up the wooded slopes of the hills that separate the Our and Sûre valleys from one another. Once we're on the ridge the hiking becomes a lot easier and soon we get the first views on the Sûre valley. We're approaching the end of the hike.
Once more we have to conclude that the end of the trail part described in the topoguide has nothing spectacular to offer. We end up on the busy N19 traffic road that leads through this valley and continu following that road to the roundabout at Bleesbreck. Still one kilometer further along the same road we arrive at the bridge of Gilsdorf.
That's the end of the hike. This is also the place where another popular GR trail ends: GR 57. We could follow that one into the center of Diekirch for a few more kilometers, but after 4 days on the road, we've had enough hiking. There's a busstop opposite the bridge and that's a much easier way to get to Diekirch ...
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