9 October 2022

On Saturday 9 October 2022, the Ad Pacem association organised a bike ride on the cycle paths of south-western Luxembourg. 
Ten people met at 9 am to start from the station in Pétange. The group took several breaks along the 40 km route.
At noon, everyone had lunch in the open air. As the route was organised in a loop, at about 5 p.m. the whole group arrived again at the station of Pétange from where they had started. 
This outing through the fields and along the woods was another experience to rediscover the bicycle as an ecological, healthy and group way of travelling.

Fifteen members of the Ad Pacem association cycled together for two days on cycle paths in Luxembourg. This bike ride made people understand how much this means of expression reduces air pollution and climate change. And it brings well-being and peace to the mind, soul and body.

On the morning of April 15, they left the Glacis in Luxembourg-city by bike, taking the cycle path no. 2 which, passing by the red bridge and the Kirchberg, led them to Echternach.

The lunch break was at the bus stop in the small village of Rippeg. At the height of Consdorf there was the possibility of seeing on a landscaped square, just on the edge of the cycle path, the enormous American bomb, found in 1990, and which dated from the 2nd World War. The group arrived at the edge of Lake Echternach around 3.30 p.m.

Visit of the Gallo-Roman villa just behind.

The guide of the Museum explained very well the life of the inhabitants of this Gallo-Roman villa which was inhabited from the 1st to the 5th century of our era.

From the roof, which is also the terrace of the museum, you can get a good idea of the size and considerable dimensions of this farm and the land that surrounded it at the time. Inside the museum, the visitor can realize the importance given to the classical studies of the young people of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy as well as to the art of cooking at the time.

The site offers a good overview of the many details that the excavations have brought to light so far.

Evening dinner was taken outdoors on the terrace of the Echternach youth hostel.

Visit of the Basilica and the crypt

On Friday morning, everyone got on their bikes in the direction of Echternach where the group attended the 9 a.m. mass in the basilica. Afterwards, the priest Mr. Erasmy was kind enough to briefly explain the history of the basilica from its beginnings in the 7th century to the present day. He reviewed the various destructions and reconstructions that the basilica has undergone over the centuries.

Under his guidance, the group visited the crypt where the sarcophagus of Saint Willibrord is located, who evangelized this region by propagating the Christian faith there. He is notably the patron saint of Luxembourg and the dancing procession celebrated on Pentecost Tuesday to honor his memory has been on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity since 2010.

Around 10:30 a.m., the group left Echternach along the Sûre on cycle path n. 3. Shortly before noon a lunch break took place in Born, a small village near the Sûre. After regaining strength, thanks to a barbecue, the group set off again on track n. 3 to the port of Mertert to now take track n. 4 to Niederanven. It is precisely here that the route joins the cycle path n. 2 and the last kilometers of the course thus corresponded to the first of the day before. The arrival at Glacis was around 7:30 p.m.

Tired after these two days of cycling, everyone was able to realize how much, in contact with the air and nature, these physical efforts on the bike help to find relaxation and satisfaction.

But traveling by bike avoids CO2 pollution and reduces greenhouse effects. They support the desired ecological change.