Trier

Its only 56kms from Luxembourg to Trier. For reasons that were none too obvious the campsite at Alzingen required you to be off-site by 10.30am. This meant that even after a quick shop in a German Lidl, it was only just after noon when we parked up in the free Park and Ride at Messepark on the outskirts of Trier.

Next stop. Germany...

We soon found the bus-stop, and between ourselves and a couple from Nurenburg we managed to figure out the timetable, with the help of mime and pidgin Anglo-german - I don't think there is a German equivalent term to Franglais.

Something of the vernerable status of the city of Trier can be seen from the phoograph I took of a very ordinary looking shopping street.

The shops to left and right are bog-standard 1970s concrete boxes. They would not look out of place in Skelmersdale or Milton Keynes. The rather severe brick building dates from AD 311, it was built by the Emperor Constantine. It has been in constant use (no pun intended!) ever since, and now functions as a Protestant church.

This area of Germany, however, is predominantly Roman Catholic, reflecting the history of the city as one of the free Arch-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire. The older cathedral is mainly Romanesque, but parts of the nave can be traced back to a late Roman basilica of the fifth century. The 'new' church of Our Lady, adjacent to the cathedral is from the thirteenth century, and is the first building in Germany to built in the Gothic style.

It would be mis-leading though to think that there is nothing more to Trier than a clutch of historical monuments. It's one of Germany's major centres of higher education with a student population of 25,000. This gives the whole place a lively youthful vibe, and ensures you are never more than a few yards from a cafe, ice-cream parlour or cake shop. We opted for a place just around the corner from the cathedral - it served Illy coffee - and so far as we are concerned, Italian coffee is where it is at.

Brand loyalty!

The main bus station  is next to Trier's most famous site - the Porta Nigra. This is the best preserved example of a Roman town gate in existence. It's truly enormous, and probably survived intact because in 1028 a Greek monk called Simeon moved in and used it as a hermitage, Subsequently a monastery dedicated to him was built next door and the gate converted into a church, ensuring its survival. Helpfully, Napolean demolished all the ecclesiastical stuff before 1815, to prove his Republican credentials, I suppose, gifting us the monument we have today.

It's no more than a short stroll from the Porta Nigra to the main shopping area and marketplace. It appeared to be the moment for early strawberries and asparagus, not, I presume, consumed together.

Beyond the shopping area is a district that seems to have developed in the eighteenth century with handsome squares and town houses, now containing wine bars and restaurants.

In one of the more modest town houses, in 1818, Trier's most influential son was born. The Archbishops of Trier may have influenced European history in the medieval and early modern periods, but in terms of modern history few would deny that Karl Marx's influence on a global scale was far greater. I cannot think of any nineteenth thinker, apart from Charles Darwin maybe, who had more impact on the twentieth century than Marx. There is a small museum at his birthplace. We paid our respects by being tourists and simply photographing the exterior!

"If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people."

Karl Marx, 1837,  Letter to his Father