Izeger Stee, in Luxembourg.
Even when casually passing by on the main road Val de Hamm, Pulvermühl has the capability of taking me back to carefree instants. I look at it as a hidden gem I was lucky enough to experience during this year’s clement month of September.
When walking in Bonnevoie
I find myself taking a stroll in southern Bonnevoie now. I walked downhill, expecting a parking lot at the bottom, whereas I come across a fence and a yellow no trespassing sign. To my surprise, a passage appears to the left — a partially fallen-apart construction made of stone recalls a vestige of the past, and leads to a trail in the woods.
Keeping straight on, an esplanade opens up and I eventually realise where I am. The September Sun is warm and filters through, rendering designs on the ground that vary with the slightest movement of the broad leaves that are positioned high on the branches.
To my left, a working yard lies close by the dismissed factory that once was a dry-cleaning plant and, earlier on, produced traction and lifting equipment, cotton yarns and drapery.
While, to my right, I recognise Total Energies petrol station, the Romanian Embassy and Pulvermühl (in Luxembourgish, Polvermillen). Yes, it is Pulvermühl, a neighbourhood in Hamm, enclosed between calcium carbonate walls and the valley of the Alzette River.
Soil with leaves and light designs, in Luxembourg.
And again, when cycling in the ville basse
They say Pulvermühl is far removed, but to me it looks like the perfect compromise between a Nativity-scene village and the city. I went for a bicycle ride across Pfaffenthal, Clausen, and Grund only the weekend before.
I saw the allotments in Grund with giant sunflowers in bloom and, I do not even know how, we soon were pedaling up and down a slope along the railways line, on the way to Pulvermühl. It somehow reminded me of Madeira levadas,¹ perhaps because it was rather narrow and did not allow for much diversion.
We left Pulvermühl to be back in town, more especially in Bonnevoie, where we crossed a street that reunited us with the woods. Just in time to catch another fully charged vel'OH! As the Alzette widened, we headed to Hesperange via Rue Godchaux, the old Izeger Stee² (in Luxembourgish, Itzigerstee).
Sunflowers and fence, in Luxembourg.
Woods here, there and all around Luxembourg City
When I first moved to Luxembourg, I was impressed by how common it was to encounter pathways immersed in the woods perfectly integrated into the urban fabric, as I found myself in Beggen or on rue de Trèves on the way to Clausen. It exactly is this proximity that makes it possible for your shoe soles to get unexpectedly muddy — their passage will leave behind dry residues on the floor in a second moment. What a sweet reminder of this time spent somewhere other than just the city!
¹ Madeira levadas: A network of irrigation channels that is autochthonous of the Atlantic island of Madeira and figures in the Tentative list of Portugal in order to qualify for inclusion in the UNESCO definitive list. Thanks to them, the water flows from north to south for 3,100 kilometers, almost always at a minimal incline (1/1000 m/m). Their construction began in the middle of the 15th century and extended until the ‘60s of the 20th century. Built in basalt rock, later replaced by cyclopean concrete, they are accompanied by pedestrian pathways into unique agricultural and forest areas.² Izeger Stee: It has always been an important communication route between Itzig and Luxembourg City. In the past, local farmers used it to sell their wares in Luxembourg and to buy anything they did not produce themselves.