Luxembourg, Brussels, and Paris…OR… Castles, Waffles, and Romance (whatever you prefer)

Wow, what a week I had! It all began Monday morning when we all piled into our Freiburg double-decker coach bus. We all had on our nice, business formal attire on since we were to meet with an intern at the European Court of Justice later that day. We departed Freiburg, Germany at around 7am and were to be in Luxembourg at 3pm for our meeting with the intern. Along the ride, we made a quick pit stop right outside Saint-Avold, France at the largest US Military Cemetery in Europe, Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial. (This is where 10,489 American soldiers who were not shipped back to America are buried). I hadn’t seen so many graves since I visited Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. when I was in 8th grade. As a result, this definitely made me reflect on how brutal the past really was before peace in Europe began to form.

After walking around a bit, we needed to be on our way. We arrived in downtown Luxembourg around noon just in time to eat some lunch and roam the tiny city before our meeting. Since Luxembourg is known for having one of the highest, if not the highest GDP per capita in the world and being known for a tax haven as criticized by some Europeans, we felt we fit right in with our business attire. A group of us decided to eat at a fancy French Restaurant and order a bottle of red and white wine for the table over a salad, warm bread, steak tartare with frites. The meal was simply delicious. We paid our waiter and then walked inside a nearby church to admire the stained glass and the huge organ for a few minutes. Across from the church was the Alzette river and its beautiful bridges and landscape alongside of it. Taking in the fresh air and absorbing the sunrays across the blue sky, the day could not have been more beautiful. Strange enough, I could feel a sense of home and know why a part of me is part Luxembourgish. Thanks Grandmama Conrardy!

At the European Court of Justice, I learned about its basic function and its role inside the European Union. Ever since the start of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and its six members, the community continues to enlarge. Because of its expansion, or more notably its “deepening” and “widening” the European Union was founded and twenty-seven countries have joined a membership. With this comes more construction to fit these new countries, i.e. the Balkan States, into the buildings and more languages are introduced to make a current total of twenty-three (Gaelic being the most recent). This institution allows for public viewing of cases and a constant interpretation of EU law.

Although this may sound boring, I figured I would write about what exactly I am learning on these trips. I don’t just eat, shop, and drink… I actually do learn about how the European Union works! … The next stop=Brussels, Belgium!