Bruge -> Luxembourg, and Parc Merveilleux

A few sites on our way out of town: the windmills along
the canal

And one of the entrance gates to the city

We decided to stop in Luxembourg on the way home on our vacation because it's almost exactly halfway between Bruges and Zürich. And there was a bit of irrational appeal in adding another country, or, rather, Grand Duchy, to our list of places we've visited.

But we had a some business to attend to before we left: we stocked up on a couple dozen cans of Jupilar beer from the grocery store next tool our hotel.  One of our friends (hi, Kurt!) suggested a brewery tour that he'd really enjoyed in Bruges, but would have been difficult with three kids.  But we tried a few new locals with our dinners each night, and Jupilar was my favorite of the bunch.

And, judging from the way the gas station we stopped at outside Bruges had multiple refrigerator cases filled with Jupilar, it's a popular option in the area.  I may have fallen in love with Belgium's version of Budwiser. I'm known for my sophisticated taste.

The drive, just a little over three hours, was sort of dull.  The novelty of the scenery has worn off, I suppose, for all of us except Joey, who every few minutes, every time we passed a field of cows, would cry out with fresh excitement, "Look! An-mals!" The other kids were happy, too. We'd gotten them packs of bubble gum and tic tacs at the convenience store, and so the kids' drive to Luxembourg was a haze of sugar and Garfield cartoons.

After we'd decided to spend a night in Luxembourg, I researched family friendly sites there, and the best option (and, indeed, the only option) was Parc Merveilleux, a fairytale-themed children's park.

The entrance gate to the park

I fell in love with the website, and we thought that it would be a nice reward for the kids' patience during the day's drive.  The park is a perfect antidote to Disney overload: it's little, with many playgrounds and only a few rides, and an emphasis on animals, many of which we could feed.


We first walked first through a rainforest greenhouse, impressive except that, as far as we could tell, it's inhabitants were a few pigeons, some ducks, and a single happy tortoise.


So we didn't stay there long, but instead went on to the restaurant stands, next to a gorgeous playground.  Lucikly, we'd fed the kids in the car: after they'd noticed the playground, it would have been impossible to get them to sit still for food.  We told Ella and Alex we'd pay them a france, each, if they'd babysit Joey, which freed Dennis and me up to have a most relaxing lunch of our beer and schnitzel.  Every once in a while we'd catch a glimpse of our little huddle of kids.  At one point Dennis turned to me: "I just saw Ella's feet float by: either they found a zipline or Ella finally learned to fly."

The kids finally conquered this playground and then drifted over to water-play area across the sidewalk, which include the largest swing I'd ever seen.  

The international sign for bathroom

Particularly when he's tired, Joey's developed a very unfortunate habit of fighting me when it's time to change his diapers.  "No! My diaper!" he'll scold, running away, clutching at his crotch. "Mine!"  But my little stinker really needed a change, so I chased him.  And ran away right into a dead-end, leading to the entrance of the bathrooms (to Ella's vast amusement).  Ha! Now I had him.  

Joey wanted nothing to do with me for a
few minutes after

But after I changed him and threw away his soiled diaper, with Joey howling all the while ("No! M-i-i-ine!"), he threw himself on the ground, desperately clawing at the diaper pail.  I hauled him outside and over to Dennis, who was getting some ice cream for Ella and Alex.  Joey didn't even notice the ice cream. He squirmed out of my hands and made a beeline back to the bathrooms taking desperate leaps towards the doorknob of the bathroom: "MINE!"
  

They don't fiddle around with guinea pigs at this park

I hauled him outside again and finally asked him, out of desperation,"Joey, would you like me to give you a different diaper? Do you want me to change you again?" 


He paused in his keening, hiccoughed, and nodded.  And then, gathering conviction, told me adamantly, "Yes! YES! Not this diaper! Different diaper! Change! Now!" So many times he works himself into fits of rage and stubbornness and all he really needs is an exit strategy, a way to end it with some shreds of dignity intact. Thankfully, that was our only meltdown of the day.

They had an impressive range of animals to feed, even capybaras, although these, unfortunately, were given a large supply of food in their trough just as we approached.  The deer-like animal that shared their enclosure galloped over to the troughs, away from my still-fragile Joey, who was eagerly holding his little bag of food.  He stood there, dumbfounded, pleading, "Hey, An-mals? Come back?"


We followed the trail to an even more wonderful shady playground.  

In one end, they had a little labyrinth disguised as a wood pile that was completely dark inside.  Some of the local children had come prepared with miner's helmets, but my kids had to stumble through. 

And, just off the playground, was the Chemin des Contes, Fairytale Way.  This little route was lined with tiny houses, with slightly animated figures inside and buttons to press to hear the corresponding stories in French, German, or Luxembourgish. 

Some of these dioramas were more gory than others, 

and I was amused that they placed the Little Red Riding Hood building right next to the wolf enclosure.

Also nearby was a little farm zoo, with some very aggressive goats that eventually scared off even Joey.  

So we gave our food, instead, to some absolutely magnificent donkeys.  They looked like prehistoric horses, but really they're a breed that is highly prized in the southwest of France. They had the softest fur, and they were incredibly gentle with Joey.

It was approaching dinnertime, and so we finished our circle back at the restaurants and the kids reveled in the nuggets, fish sticks, and hot dogs on the menu, while Dennis and I had schnitzel, Round Two.  


The parked closed at 6:00, so at 5:30 we rounded up the kids and took them over to the little ride area, which had go karts and a little metal track that wove through the woods: for a euro, you could gallop along the track on a little plastic horse.


And so we did, and, with that, we closed the park.  


We checked in at the local Etap hotel, with rooms absolutely identical to the ones we had yesterday.  My roommate was asleep within a minute of hitting the pillow.  

And today's

Yesterday's hotel

Alex has a head cold that was getting increasingly worse all day.  Dennis told me that, after he'd fallen asleep, Ella told him, meaningfully, "Dad. Alex is snoring."


"I know, honey," he told her, "Alex is a little sick tonight." 


"But, Dad, he's snoring. You should carry him into the snoring room."

Good night, Ella.