From Wild Camps to Iron Rails: Exploring Luxembourg and Fond-de-Gras

Nomadic Tales

My perception of small countries is that the chances of finding a secluded spot to pitch a tent without being seen are very low. The land tends to be expensive and fully utilized, and I imagined that landowners wouldn’t appreciate tents on property they’ve paid dearly for. I resisted the temptation to try even a single night of wild camping in Switzerland, fearing a hefty fine. However, I did camp in Luxembourg, not one, but two nights.

In Kehl, Germany, just across the river from Strasbourg, I managed one night of wild camping, but it was far from comfortable. Two men walking in the distance kept watching me for about half an hour. Despite my green tent blending into the grassy ground with a forested backdrop, and being 400 meters from the road, they appeared suspicious, stepping left and right, perhaps trying to get a better view. Since wild camping is generally frowned upon in Germany, I usually avoid it, but I wanted to try anyway. I had spent a full week near Strasbourg, camping on the city’s outskirts, but curiosity led me to test whether Germany was feasible for wild camping.

As I made my way toward Luxembourg’s capital, knowing I’d return to France the same way, I started noting potential camping spots on my map. Later that day, I checked out one of those spots, but a man noticed me and didn’t seem pleased, so I left. Eventually, I found a place about 200 meters from a side road. At 10:30 PM, a car illuminated the area with a powerful spotlight. From past experience in Greece, when I was raided at midnight, I assumed it might be the police, so I braced myself for a fine. The car stayed only for less than a minute. It’s hard to believe they didn’t see me, and I suspect they were hunters, especially given the presence of a nearby hunting post.

I decided to pack up and leave to avoid further disturbance. At 11:15 PM, I hit the road, planning to reach France that night. However, while riding a straight road toward the border, the red lights atop an antenna on the French side looked impossibly far away. I stopped at a patch of land I had previously marked, still in Luxembourg, and pitched my tent, believing I was hidden behind bushes. In the morning, I realized I was quite exposed: to the left was a highway overpass, in front were houses, and to the right, a busy bike path. Nearby, a construction site was already bustling with activity.

The following night, I made sure to leave Luxembourg, not wanting to push my luck. But on the third night, I unintentionally ended up sleeping there again. I had been exploring the Fond-de-Gras industrial and railway open-air museum, and stayed so long that I couldn’t make it back to France before dark, especially with a climb ahead. This time I pitched my tent right by the trail, near a picnic table, so they wouldn’t bother shining long range spotlights again. I packed up early, around 7 AM, just before cyclists and hikers began to arrive.

Luxembourg, Aug 2023

Unforgettable Sights & Hidden Gems

Fond-de-Gras: The Railway Station that Lived Forever

Part of the Minett Park Fond-de-Gras open-air museum offers a vivid window into Luxembourg’s industrial heritage, specifically its mining past. Located in the country’s southwest, the region sits atop part of the largest iron ore deposit in Europe, which stretches into neighboring France. This rich resource fueled Luxembourg’s economy for over a century, and the train line running from Pétange to Fond-de-Gras played a key role in that history. For decades, it transported iron ore from the mines until operations ceased in 1964. In an effort to preserve cultural heritage, the railway and dependencies were renovated and, since 1973, has been revived as a tourist attraction, allowing visitors to experience a ride through the landscape that once powered the nation’s industry.

Today, the site includes much more than a nostalgic train ride. Historic locomotives, hopper railcars, old gondola and platform cars, including an iconic torpedo car used for transporting molten iron, all standing as reminders of the era when steam and steel shaped everyday life. The original railway station, an engine shed, and an industrial forge have been preserved to give visitors an authentic glimpse of the working environment during the industrial boom. Together, these elements form a living museum that celebrates Luxembourg’s mining legacy while educating future generations about the country’s transformation from a rural economy to an industrial powerhouse.

Roadside Hacks

It’s essential to have a basic understanding of bike mechanics if you plan to travel long distances. I picked up most of my skills by repeatedly taking apart and reassembling my bikes over the years. However, after breaking eight spokes on my rear wheel during a trip to Greece in 2019, I realized I needed to take things a step further and learn about wheel building. A truing stand can be incredibly helpful for this, but it comes at a price. If you're not planning to build many wheels, it's often not worth the investment, especially since a bike frame can be used as a makeshift stand for basic truing.

That said, professional wheel truing stands offer two major advantages over using a bike frame. First, they include scrapers that give audible clues to indicate the rim’s alignment. Second, these scrapers are positioned symmetrically in relation to the wheel’s center plane, allowing for more accurate adjustments. To bridge the gap between cost and functionality, I designed a compact wheel truing stand that fits in a pocket yet provides the same core features. The main difference is that the scraper sits inside the rim rather than outside. This tool uses the bike’s V-brake mounts for alignment, ensuring the scraper references the center plane. Its unique shape allows for both lateral and radial truing, making it a practical solution for cyclists on the go.