We crossed two borders this week, but the real journey involved playgrounds, water features, one very determined friendship with a German-speaking neighbor, and the B2 trail through the caves of Luxembourg. Lightning McQueen handled the countries; we mostly handled snacks.
One More Day at the Lake
We started the week with a lazy day at the lake, which felt very necessary after all of our moving around. We had fresh bread for breakfast, headed down to the water for a little swimming, and played with the dinosaurs. Eventually we wandered over to the lakeside bar for lunch, where Happy Meals also entered the equation. It was not exactly a refined European dining experience, but everyone ate, which is generally our main requirement these days.
Back at camp, Coons set up the hammock and Nolan began a much more important project: convincing Clara, the little girl next door, to come play. Clara only spoke German and Nolan only spoke English, but apparently funny faces and general five-year-old antics are universal. He spent a solid hour making her laugh before she finally came over to Lightning McQueen. Soon she, Nolan, and Nina were playing with all of the toys in the van like they had known each other forever.
Watching the kids work around the language barrier was Dad’s favorite part of the day, and meeting Clara was Nolan’s. Nina voted for the playground, naturally. She was also feeling a little under the weather, so she spent much of the day taking it easy and snuggling with Mommy—which, not coincidentally, was Mommy’s favorite part. We made dinner at camp and crossed our fingers that a quiet day would have Nins feeling better in the morning.
Metz
Everyone woke up feeling pretty good, and Nolan and Nina immediately got in a little more playtime with Clara while Mom and Dad packed Lightning McQueen. When it was finally time to leave, the kids waved goodbye to their new friend. It was one of those very sweet campsite moments that almost makes you forget how much work it takes to pack an entire family back into a camper van. Almost.
Before heading to our Airbnb outside Metz, we stopped at a very cool indoor play place named Palomano. Nolan dressed up in firefighter gear, Nina flew an airplane, and both kids tried crêpes for the first time. Unsurprisingly, they loved them. France has been doing a very effective job of expanding their diets, provided the new food involves bread, chocolate, sugar, or some combination of the three.
Once we reached the Airbnb, Dad settled in for work while the kids enjoyed a little television delighted to find there was one in the living room. Kourtney ordered an embarrassing amount of food from Uber Eats by accident which ended up hitting the spot for everyone for dinner and breakfast the next morning. The other major event of the evening was Nolan and Nina taking a shower by themselves for the first time. Mommy assisted and may have gotten a little wet in the process, but all were laughing and both children emerged clean, so we are counting it as a major parenting victory.
Nolan’s favorite part of the day was being a fireman, while Nina found the entire indoor playground to her liking. Mommy could not decide between the play place and the independent shower milestone. Dad chose the kids’ morning with Clara and their sweet goodbye, which officially made one little campsite friendship the highlight of two days in a row.
Luxembourg City
The next morning we packed up the Airbnb, filled Lightning McQueen with gas, which has been a feat all on its own, went grocery shopping, and picked up more propane. These are the glamorous behind-the-scenes details of crossing Europe in a camper van with two small children. Then we drove into Luxembourg, adding another new country to the family list.
Just over the border we stopped at Parc Merveilleux, which was part zoo, part playground, and part water attraction. In other words, it was designed specifically for Nolan and Nina. They fed goats and llamas, explored the playgrounds, and climbed some surprisingly daring bridges, ladders, towers, and other high features. Dad’s favorite part was watching them try all of it, while both kids gave their standard and very dependable answer: playground. The playground even won over the adorable goats that they got to feed and pet.
We continued to Camping Bon Accueil just outside Luxembourg City, where the campground had—good news—another really nice playground. Nolan and Nina played while we made dinner, Dad took a few calls, everyone showered, and then the kids went back out to play some more. Mommy’s favorite part was joining them in a game of kitchen at the sandy campground park. At this point the children had explored Luxembourg almost exclusively through climbing structures, but they seemed very pleased with the country.
The following morning was another slow one. We stayed around the campground through lunch, then called an Uber and headed into the city to Parc de Merl. The park was huge and filled with all sorts of structures and water features. Nolan and Nina spent a long time watching the giant fish, turtles, and ducks in the pond before moving on to the playground. Eventually we changed them into bathing suits and let them loose in the water features, where they happily stayed for ages.
Mom left a little early for a nail appointment—her very clear favorite part of the day—while Coons finished up at the park with the kids. The remaining three celebrated a successful outing with ice cream and then called an Uber back to the campsite. Dad cooked dinner, took a few more calls, and the kids closed out the evening at the campground playground. Nolan and Nina once again both chose the new playground as the best part of their day. The playgrounds really did keep getting better and more daring. Luxembourg had now been thoroughly tested and approved.
Echternach & Berdorf
We left Luxembourg City and pointed Lightning McQueen toward Berdorf, stopping along the way at the lake just outside Echternach. There was a playground, obviously, and then we had a really good lunch at Pier 75. Afterward we continued to Camping Belle-Vue 2000 and checked in for the night.
The kids spent a ton of time at the campground playground, where Nina went on a zip line for the first time. She has spent this trip watching her big brother climb increasingly ambitious playground features, and she was clearly ready to add a little more danger to her own résumé. Pray for us.
Nolan, meanwhile, made another friend in another language. This time it was Numi, a very kind 13-year-old who spoke French. Nolan’s favorite part of the day was meeting his new friend and giving him a freeze pop. Between Clara and Numi, he was building a very international social circle using facial expressions, toys, and frozen sugar.
Mommy loved watching the kids conquer yet another huge tower, slide, and drawbridge. Dad’s favorite moments were Nolan making a friend and Nina trying the zip line. We cooked dinner, Coons handled some work calls, and we managed a slightly earlier bedtime because the next morning we planned to hike the B2 trail. For once, our primary activity would not involve a playground—although naturally there was one waiting at the end.
The B2 Trail
Dad had to wake all of the sleepyheads early the next morning. We collected our morning bread and drove to the trailhead for the B2 circuit out of Berdorf. It was cooler in the woods, and we were all together and away from everything else for a few hours, which made the hike Dad’s favorite part of the day.
Nolan led the way and turned the hike into an elaborate Journey-book-style quest. We had entered the journey and needed to find all of the crayons to complete the puzzle. Nolan’s incredible imagination made the 3k trek a breeze and he walked the entire route himself.
Nina rode shotgun in the backpack on Coons like a true passenger princess. We took a few side adventures up the rocks and through caves. One passage became a little tight with Nina in the backpack, but the duo completed it. Somehow squeezing Coons and a small passenger through a Luxembourg cave was all part of the family bonding experience.
Mommy’s favorite part was the hike and watching Nolan create his game all the way through it. Afterward, the kids played at the playground while she made lunch. Nolan ultimately selected swinging side by side with Nina as his favorite part of the day, which was a very sweet choice after his heroic crayon quest.
Then it was time to leave Luxembourg. We drove about two hours into Belgium, stopping for gas –ugh– and groceries along the way, arriving at Camping Club Benelux in La Roche-en-Ardenne just in time to squeeze a pool sesh in before dinner. We were staying for three nights, so Lightning McQueen could finally remain parked for a little while. Nina promptly named swimming as the best part of her day despite lots of tears from both parties. Mom and Dad are thinking spending the winter in the heated pool at Sunday River and the beginning of summer in the Leblanc’s heated pool have made them a little bougie. The playground was still waiting for us later that evening, because apparently a full hike and a swim did not use up all of their energy.
La Roche-en-Ardenne
On Saturday we walked from the campground into the beautiful town of La Roche-en-Ardenne. We explored the castle above town, climbing up with the kids before stopping for a nice lunch and making the walk back to camp.
Dad and Mom both chose the walk into town and the castle as highlights of the day, although Dad added the pool to his list as well. Nina agreed strongly with the pool portion. Nolan –after a day of archery, 13th century castle viewing, a shared pizza and pasta lunch– selected buying candies as the best part of his day. Honestly, we respect the clarity.
We finished the day back at the campground, with two more nights still ahead of us in Belgium. After a week of packing, borders, errands, work calls, campsites, and countless playground stops, it feels good to stay put for a moment. Lightning McQueen probably agrees.
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