Reunioun an Lëtzebuerg (Mission to Luxembourg)

In most of the international agencies that I've met so far, business trips are referred to as missions, and my first mission for the OECD was to go to Luxembourg to attend a pension workshop hosted by Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union). My attendance included presenting the upcoming work of the OECD in the area of pensions as well as a new statistical table on household retirement resources. The workshop lasted a little over a day and a half, which provided me with a few hours to see Luxembourg City before my trip back to Paris.

Luxembourg City may not have a lot of tourist attractions but it is a beautiful city. The air is crisp and clear. The streets are exceptionally clean, even compared to newer North American cities. Litter is non-existent and even graffiti is minimal in the city center. All of the buildings looked well maintained, although it seemed they were more recently constructed. It also appeared that the locals there are somewhat wealthier than other Europeans, judging by their more expensive clothing and professional gait, as well as the proliferation of luxury brands everywhere. The luxury brands may have been on sale for tourists, but Luxembourg doesn't have the tourist traffic of other European cities so I have to assume that a lot of the demand comes from the locals.

I spent my free time walking around the central part of the city (Ville Haute) and passed by some of the city's landmarks. The area also contains several blocks of pedestrian-only shopping streets lined with luxury shops, so I spent some time window shopping.

On the right is Gëlle Fra, a monument to World War I veterans from Luxembourg. In the center background is the former headquarters of the High Authority of the European Steel and Coal Community (probably now another EU administration building).



The Grand Ducal Palace, official residence of the head of state: the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

From one storefront window, three Patek-Philippe Calatrava watches. They made the Rolex watches next door look like a bargain!

This is a shot of a slope entering the Vallée de la Pétrusse. I liked this picture as it contrasts the newer commercial buildings against the older residential homes in the valley below.

A statue of Grand Duke William II in the Place Guillaume II town square.

Statues at the Place du Théâtre.

So that was Luxembourg City in a few hours. I also walked to the Kirchberg area, which contained several EU administration buildings, but the photos of the area weren't post-worthy. There was a moderate number of tourists around the city, although far fewer than Paris, Rome or Barcelona. While most of the tourists were Asian, there were also a few Ukrainians looking around the city, as Ukraine and Luxembourg were playing a Euro 2016 qualifying match later that evening. (I did not see the match but Ukraine won 3-0.)