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Mullerthal and Echternach

— It's what you do with it that counts: there's plenty of countryside to cover in little Luxembourg.”

As part of a weekend trip to Luxembourg in which we visited the capital, we headed first for the pleasant town of Echternach, home of the famous monastery.

Towards the end of what we (sometimes unfairly) call the Dark Ages, history began once again to be recorded, especially in ecclesiastical circles. It always surprises me how some folks got around in those days and just how far they travelled.

Saint Willibrord is no exception. Growing up at the abbey in Ripon, North Yorkshire, the monk spent time in Ireland before his toughest mission, the conversion of the wild Frisians in what are now the northernmost regions of the Netherlands. The Frisians were unimpressed, particularly when Willibrord admitted that their king would not meet his family in Heaven since they had died pagans.

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Mullerthal

The dense woodlands and steep valleys of Luxembourg's Mullerthal region are nicknamed "Petite Suisse".

Willibrord never did manage to properly convert the Frisians (and thus enable the Franks to control their principal port) but he did perform lots of the obligatory miracles and he often visited Echternach, where he was buried after his death.

Above the town in the woodlands are flowing streams and numerous, unique rock formations. Pathways are well signposted and we took the E1 loop from Echternach towards Berdorf and back.

More details are available in English at the Mullerthal website.