‘I found soft drugs, heavy industry and early nights’

Iwasn’t sure what to do with myself, so I bought some cannabis. I’d had a tough 24 hours attempting to uncover the riches of Esch-surAlzette: an industrial town in southern Luxembourg, and one of Europe’s newly minted Capitals of Culture. Only its riches weren’t yielding. The town of 35,000 seemed strangely impenetrable. Perhaps I was out of practice, what with Covid and all.

I had swung by Esch’s only museum, but it was closed for refurbishment. I found no other tourist attractions to speak of. I was the sole diner in an empty but excellent Lebanese restaurant. And most of the bars I passed looked a bit forlorn. It was Wednesday, and February. But still.

I suppose I had a certain image of Luxembourg before I set out: rolling hills and fairy-tale towns; grand architecture; dubious tax arrangements and blacked-out Beemers ferrying pin-striped bankers.

The capital, Luxembourg City, about nine miles away, broadly fit that image. There I spotted art-nouveau facades, ornamental spires and executive cars. I walked in the shadow of the Bank Museum and peered through the windows of expensive tailors. It felt quietly lavish, a bit fusty. Old money.

Esch was different. I was struck by its ordinariness: the utilitarian architecture; the nondescript shops; the quiet streets. There was a demure orderliness to the place – no litter, no homelessness, no empty shops. Hardly thriving, but lacking the sense of abandonment you get in some old industrial towns. There was even a provincial theatre.

Its multicultural population was immediately noticeable. There were many faces from other places – France, Portugal, Cape Verde, Brazil – all likely lured by Luxembourg’s €2,200-a-month (£1,840) minimum wage.

Only in Esch nobody seemed to be out spending it. I traipsed the streets looking for life, but succeeded only in aggravating my bunions. That’s when I stumbled upon the cannabis shop.

Luxembourg is the first country in the EU to legalise growing and using cannabis. It is available to buy in shops, but – here’s the kicker – with the THC (the bit that gets you high) removed. How very Luxembourg. What’s left is CBD, which supposedly quells anxiety.

I told Sasha, who ran the shop, that I couldn’t find anything to do. He puffed his cheeks out and released a sigh. “I’m not surprised. There’s not much to do.”

But this is the Capital of Culture, I reasoned. He shrugged.