The hunger drives it in: The « The River » in Vianden

« Vianden, located in this wonderful landscape, (…) consists of two things, equally encouraging and impressive; an eerie ruin and a cheerful population, » said French writer Victor Hugo in the north of Luxembourg, in which he lived for several years at the end of the 19th century. I would not describe the ruin as scary: after a relaxing afternoon in which my partner and I visited the World Heritage Site, I was particularly reminiscent of the impressive sham -plated arches of the gallery.

In one point, however, Hugo was right about the cheerful population. This had already made itself comfortable on the sunny terrace of the « The River », which romantically slumbers on the shore of the Our. We did it immediately, because immersing it in the Luxembourg history makes you hungry and thirsty. In retrospect, however, we would have taken our appetite home better. Because there is actually only one argument that in my opinion speaks for the restaurant described here, which is located directly around the corner of Victor Hugo’s former residential building, and that is the terrific outlook.

But let’s start from the front: ironically, I ordered a Hugo (11.50 euros) in my thirst without being aware of the irony. What landed on the table would not even have drunk Jean Valjean, who was in prison for the theft of a bread loib at the beginning of « Les Misérables ». It seems that someone has mixed woodruff syrup with a dry, cheap crémant – at least that suggests the poisonous green color of the drink.

And we were also only partially satisfied with the meal: as the main course I ordered the cattle carpaccio (24.50 euros), which, according to the map, should come with a ceiling from Rucola and Parmesan, as well as a side dish from fries and a salad. Instead, the latter fell by the wayside. The lettuce leaves found themselves instead of rocket on the carpaccio, and instead of Parmesan, there were finished Gouda from the supermarket cooling shelf. After all, the fries and the Capricciosa pizza (17.80 euros) were okay to my companion. However, we did without a dessert – also because it filled many cheese very fed up.

If you want to end a sightseeing day in Vianden in summer, you are quite right on the terrace of the « The River ». The atmosphere is relaxed, the sun tickles on the face, a light breeze pulls over the river and now and then an idyllic duck ends up. You might just prefer to stay with drinks: As is well known, a beer is also a lubrication.