The 2017 International Cagiva Elefant Meeting will be held in Larochette - or “Fiels” in Luxembourgish , located in the center of Little Switzerland ("Petite Suisse" ) of Luxembourg, Mullerthal - or “Mëllerdall” in Luxembourgish – owes its name to its hilly landscape reminiscent of Switzerland.

Larochette is an old market town, lying in a narrow rocky valley, entirely surrounded by woods. It is located on a one-mile stretch along a densely-forested deep river valley of hardened sandstone. Larochette is dominated by an old castle (12th century), partially rebuilt, which stand on a rocky crag high above the beautiful and romantic valley of the White Ernz. Medieval square and historic monuments. Old streets... Finally its Irene’s home town.

We think is a worthy location for the 17th International Cagiva Elefant Meeting.

As you can imagine Luxembourg is not the cheapest place in Europe. Its a bit like Switzerland and we can do nothing about it. Some of you made it clear to us that one fraction of the riders prefer to go back to the basics and keep the budget limited while we noticed that there are also guys who prefer to have some luxury instead of spending the Weekend in a tent in the rain. Remember that Luxembourg is not Tuscany and the weather in June could potentially be unpredictable. We had a hard time of negotiation but we are glad to announce that we managed not to exceed the budget of 2016. But lets keep that discussion for later and get first of all back to our selected destination.

As mentioned in the last article when we introduced Luxembourg - this country is all about multiple cultures. The proportion of foreigners in Larochette is 63,7%. The village has 1979 inhabitants. 718 of them have a Luxembourgish passport. Even if a lot of them got their Luxembourgish nationality recently they are still a minority and outgrown by Italian an Portuguese people. Portuguese are with 909 inhabitants or 46 % clearly the majority in Larochette. During summertime the village is full of tourist. Dutch people are here the clear majority. But end of June should be still quiet.

Larochette consists of two parts, the medieval city around the “rue de Mersch” and today’s centre around the marketplace “Bleech”. This newer part was situated outside the former city walls. In the flourishing period of the textile industry, the fabrics were put in the sun here, on the banks of the river “Ernz” to bleach, which explains the name “Bleech”. The place has been renovated and decorated in style, and surrounded by shops, hotels, restaurants and cafés, the Bleech is also "the" place to go for a good meal or a drink on one of the beautifully located terraces around this very "picturesque" centre.  

The location is gorgeous. Larochette has a lot to offer : The always fascinating nature, the tourist attractions, a nice square (Bleech), the fine restaurants and cosy cafés. With its central location, Larochette is the perfect base for trips in the entire Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. We looking forward to see your Elefant's located on the Bleech while their riders are enjoying a drink at the surrounding terraces.

Nice small bike roads lead from this central location through forests to the South: Mosel (river) and French boarder; East: Sauer (river) and German boarder; West: Luxembourg city ; the North with the endless valleys and the Belgium boarder. Luxembourg is beautiful for motorbike riding on roads but there is an issue with the off-road part. 50 Elefants riding through the forest like in Tuscany would certainly end up in newspapers and potentially in jail. There is a professional cross track in the north if enough people would be interested in such an option but it will not be cheap as we would need an insurance and so on. We are working with some local guys on alternatives on the Belgium border. So don't worry, we will organize something.

Our camping is on top of the beautiful middle age village and on the opposite site of the old castle (search for the Elefant on the following map). The place should be Elefant friendly and has experience with other bikes - (I know - they are also not our favorite kind of bikes) - so we should be welcome. After a ride, in case you are looking forward to have a beer, is not far to walk down to the Blech. The area is beautiful and its an easy walk down a very nice route by footpath - so if you want, you are able to leave your Elefant safe on the campsite. The way up depends of cause on how much beer you had. If you are brave you try the path by Elefant but It is certainly forbidden.

The campsite has a indoor/outdoor pool which can be opened in hot weather. Facilities very good, heated floor in sanitary block, showers good, everywhere clean. Good well, stocked shop & takeaway food...

As usual the campsite is has a rule of silence after 11pm so you have to get the Elefant's in before or leave them at the entrance where they should be safe.

Thanks to Rebecca for the feedback to push for a place where we are located all closely together and have a bit of isolation from the rest of the tourist. We think we managed to achieve exactly what you have been asking for and it did help us further with the pricing negotiation. The bungalows that are reserved for us should be booked not last minute as they are not to far away from the Elefant meeting place. The only downside could be that you might have to walk a view meters to the restrooms and showers - but they are first class. The highest priority was that we are all together - But lets disclose the packages in another chapter...

Further thanks to Peter Deutschl to push for high quality food. We did our best and we are confident that you will like it. As stated earlier food is important in Luxembourg. There was further the suggestion by several of you to have the food on Friday served until midnight because there would always be people that arrive late. We thing we addressed that as well - But lets disclose the menu in another chapter...

Any further suggesting are welcome: elefantmeeting2017@cagivaelefant.org

So how to get there?

By Elefant or Car the town of Larochette is located a 30 minute drive away from Luxembourg City. A public bus connects Larochette with the capital, Mersch, Diekirch and Echternach. Free parking spaces in the village for Elefants and cars are usually not a big issue.

Larochette-Diekirch (heading north) via N14;

Larochette-Mersch (heading west) via CR118;

Larochette-Luxembourg City(heading south) via N14;

Larochette-Echternach (heading east) via CR118.

GPS (place Bleech): 49.78406, 6.22021 N 49 47.044, E 6 13.213

GPS (Camping): 49.7851, 6.2101

The green field (X) next to the campsite is reserved for us to make sure that we are on our own. The yellow path is the footpath to the Bleech.

Finally: If you look for something very special - one of the strangest pubs outside Luxembourg city is located only 1.5 km from the Bleech:

https://www.facebook.com/Cafelittlewoodstock/

We look forward to your visit in June and wish you a very pleasant stay.