Our story

Familiefoto tijdens onze wandeling in Bavigne
Kleine fotografen in actie
Petra, blogster over expat ervaringen en Luxemburg verkennen

Hi! We’re Maarten, Petra, Daan and Tijl. In July 2020 we moved from Antwerp to Arlon, a much smaller city on the border of Luxembourg. On our blog, we’ll share our personal experiences while providing tips for exploring this beautiful region. In our vacation home in Lacuisine we want to share our experiences and this beautiful region with you. 

The name ‘la trottinette’ is inspired on the nickname her dad gave Petra as a child. A trottinette also reminds us of exploring and traveling. That’s exactly what we’d like to do on our blog: to explore the neighborhood and share our (personal) experiences. Luxembourg is the greenest province of Belgium with lots of beautiful hikes but also some very old and interesting cities. You can enjoy hiking, climbing or cycling on one day while sipping a cocktail on a terrace on the next. There are many exciting cities within an hour’s drive in Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Germany and France. You can expect a mix of tips for exploring Luxembourg and the wider area with a personal touch.

Gros bisous!
Maarten, Petra, Daan and Tijl

about moving here

Moving to a new region, a new language and two children. How did we deal with it? On this page you can read about our experiences with the move. We also share our tips if you ever want to take the leap and move to Luxembourg yourself.

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One year and so many experiences richer

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We did it: our own vacation home

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Storytime with Petra vertelt

Once upon a time la trottinette went on a journey with fairies and other stories. Practice your Dutch by listening to these classic fairy tales...

6 months later… are we happy here?

We're so relieved the kids are happy here... Our experiences and thougts 6 months after moving from Antwerp to Arlon...

How we improved our French

Would you like to improve your French? But you don't know where to start? Maybe we can inspire you with our tips and approach...

Back to school… in a foreign language

Our kids are going back to school in a new environment, with a new language and new classmates. Would we get a solid reality check or would everything turn out to be ok?...

Our children’s first experiences with a new language

"Bonnjourrr!", "Com-ment ça va?" and "Jemappelle..." Time for some language immersion in Arlon! Their developments over the past few weeks...

First impressions after moving to Arlon

Two weeks ago we moved into our new home in Arlon. The city is so different than Antwerp. Our first impressions...