Walking in the Vosges

WALKING IN THE VOSGES

The Vosges are a little range of mountains in the north-west of France, west of the Rhine and the city of Strasbourg. There are a number of different walks in this region and they can be undertaken either singly or combined together. All are accessed from Strasbourg or Colmar. Described here is a seven day walk in the central part of the Vosges featuring mediaeval châteaux, fortresses and villages and some of the celebrated vineyards of Alsace. Although the GR 5 runs north/south through the Vosges much of the walking is done on routes marked distinctively, and frequently confusedly, by the Club Vosgien.

Strasbourg is an agreeable city both to visit and to use as a jump off point for walking. But you do need to be aware that when the European Parliament is in session its many hotels may be heavily booked. It is definitely advisable to book ahead.

Holding such a strategic position between the Rhine and the natural barrier of the Vosges, Alsace has, throughout history, been a battle ground between the warring powers of Europe. It is not surprising, then that its culture lies somewhere between that of the two dominant powers – France and Germany. Language is inter-changeable, unimaginable to Australians. There is a local dialect as well which sounds very like German. And while Alsace is now firmly established as “French” the German influence on architecture, food and wine is overwhelming. The fortresses towering over the Rhine valley that are such a feature of this walk are an ever present reminder of the past struggles.

To start walking we caught a local train from Strasbourg to Sélestat from where taxis or a bus are available for Châtenois. It was early November and we were walking light having arranged a package with a company called “Randonnées sans Bagages en Alsace” who organised the transport of our luggage each day. This company has long disappeared but many others have sprung up in its place.

Walking in the Vosges © French Moments

a seven day walk in Alsace by Ann Pugh

The first day’s walking from Châtenois to Thannenkirch was an easy day of 10km to allow for travelling from Strasbourg. Setting off with the frost still on the ground we climbed in bright sunlight through forests, gradually working out the balisage allotted to our route. First there were blue circles, then red oblongs and yellow triangles, and then red and white oblongs. It was all quite confusing.

Our first target was La Montagne des Singes. We saw no monkeys - only a high fence but apparently a colony of monkeys was kept there – the poor little things must feel the cold in winter.

Thinking about monkeys prompted us to think about dogs – Alsatian dogs - which curiously have nothing to do with Alsace. More correctly known as the German Shepherd Dog, it was a herding dog first used on farms in Germany, later gaining prowess as a military dog.

After the two world wars the dog had become popular but its name was not viewed favourably in countries which had been at war with Germany. The name Alsatian Wolf Dog was adopted, soon abbreviated to Alsatian. As the memories of the wars dissipated, the original name was restored for official purposes although Alsatian remains in common usage.

After the monkey mountain, we climbed steeply to the Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle, the highest point of the day at 730m. This was the first of the châteaux-forts which overlook the Rhine Valley and are a feature of this walk. These once massive structures forcibly demonstrate the strategic importance of the Vosgian peaks in the history of the area.

Constructed in mediaeval times, Haut-Kœnigsbourg fell into disrepair until, in the period of German control after the Franco-Prussian War, it was given by the town of Sélestat to Kaiser Wilhelm II and then elaborately restored. It was closed for lunch so we were content to admire its bulk and lofty position from outside, sitting on the ramparts looking out over the valley and eating a picnic lunch.

It was a downhill walk from there through forests, colourful with Autumn leaves, to Thannenkirch – a quiet rambling village with several hotels, some houses, a school, church and the Mairie (town-hall).

Dinner was part of the package and this first night was the full-on Alsace experience. We started with a nourishing serve of soupe à l’onion followed by Baeckeoffe, one of the amazing specialties of Alsace. To the table was triumphantly brought a huge earthenware casserole, its lid sealed with pastry. Inside was revealed an immensely filling casserole of pork, pigs trotters, potatoes and carrots. With a week’s walking ahead of us we polished off a good part of it and even managed to fit in a slice of tarte aux poires. This hearty meal was washed down with a Pinot Noir d’Alsace, our first of many delicious regional wines.

Next day we had 13 km to walk to Riquewihr. Glad to walk off some of the previous evening’s dinner we began with a steep climb out of the village and into the forests. This was to become the formula for each days walking. All the towns are in the valleys and the walking, centred on the castles and the views, is up on the ridges. Sometimes this was to involve several climbs a day, starting from as low as 200 m and climbing 600 m or more, up to heights over 800 m.

On this second day, having accomplished the first climb with a minimum of puffing, we wound around on forest paths to reach Les Trois Châteaux – Haut-Ribeaupierre, St Ulrich and Girsberg.

All three castles are in ruins but St Ulrich is the best preserved so we gave it the full treatment. Perched on a cliff edge, it overlooks the town of Ribeauvillé and the vineyards which creep out of the valley and up the steep hillsides almost into the forests. Along with a surprising number of other walkers, we climbed around the castle walls and up into a tower to look down on the valley. Unfortunately it was smoggy and foggy and the view was to be imagined rather than experienced. This was to become another prevailing feature as views over the Rhine valley were usually obscured by smog and the atmospheric conditions.

From the heights we went down into Ribeauvillé for lunch. Pretty in a Hansel and Gretel sort of way, the village streets were lined with wine shops selling the local vintages and gift shops promoting the earthenware casseroles used for Baeckeoffe. Lunch was in a pub, drinking a beer with a slice of onion tart - another local specialty. After that, it was up the hill again and more winding round mountain tracks.

Our entry into Riquewihr was through a picturesque gate in the well preserved ramparts and here there are more little narrow streets and more wineshops and vinstubs (winebars), gift shops, restaurants and hotels – all of picture book half-timbered construction and painted in pastel colours. Our hotel, La Couronne was one of these, with wonky floors and huge wooden beams.

Dinner was provided in a restaurant down the street. This time it was the other great assiette d’Alsace – Choucroute – sausages, bacon and smoked pork on a bed of sauerkraut, served with potatoes. We were beginning to fear a week of dinners alternating between the hearty Baeckeoffe and the equally filling Choucroute. Meanwhile, the wines were wonderful – crisp, fruity and delicate.

Day 3, crossing to the west of the range to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines was a slightly longer 18 km. It was sunny and warm as we again climbed up, up and up along tracks and forest roads. The forests vary between dense plantings of pines which are heavily logged and deciduous trees with colourful autumn leaves. The leaves were falling and beginning to cover the ground – sometimes making it quite difficult to follow the track.

There were no châteaux today and again the valley misted up so there were no views to the East. The Western side of the mountains, however, was clear. An auberge appeared just at the right time for a pre lunch beer – then on some more till there was a perfect lunch spot in the sun at the top of a ridge. After this it was down, down, down, from the highest point of the day around 1100 m, through the falling leaves and past some old mine shafts to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.

The silver mines of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines are long exhausted but the town continues as a local centre of commerce. No half timbering and no touristy shops here - this is a real town. We were the only guests in the huge Hotel Cromer which we discovered was actually closed, so they were good to accommodate a pair of lone walkers. Listening to conversations in the bar we discovered that another exception was being made for a party of hunters coming for the weekend. Arrangements were also being discussed for a local festival in the upcoming weeks.

Monsieur, le patron, with great insight, asked what Alsatian specialties we had already eaten so as not to duplicate. He smiled knowingly at the mention of Baeckeoffe and Choucroute and then cooked a delicious fillet of pork, preceded by soup and onion tart and followed by gateau. Another lovely wine – Tokay Pinot Gris.

After his restraint the night before, our culinary host produced a feast for breakfast – croissants and bread rolls, orange juice, jam, cheese, pate, honey (all real – not in silly little hotel packets). Then he offered to cook eggs – we passed on these.

The day’s walk to Villé was 22 km and started badly as the track was very difficult to find. It was freezing cold and, after walking out of town, we turned left up the mountain as directed, and then promptly lost the balisage (path marking). After an hour of false starts and retracing of steps it became obvious that recent forestry had totally removed all trace of the signs. As in all heavily logged forests there were a number of alternatives and eventually one got us back on track. One compensation in all the to-ing and fro-ing was the sighting of a nervous little deer.

Now heading north again, the initial climbs were very steep – up 600 m to reach the highest point – but after that it was easy, pleasant walking along the ridges. Every now and then expansive views opened up of the valleys beyond, for once clear of the fog.

We lunched, sitting on moss covered logs in the forest. Then it was down, down, down again, through purple heather and pine trees, into the valley and along a bushy track that skirted above villages till eventually it descended into Villé. Along this pathway a group of school children on a nature excursion were having lots of fun digging up worms and beetles and collecting plants.

A disadvantage in walking at this time of year is the shortening of the days and it was getting dark as we checked into the Hotel Bonne Franquette. There was just time to buy provisions for tomorrow, Armistice Day, which is a public holiday and, apparently, taken so seriously here that even the bakers are closed.

Again there seemed to be no other guests. Dinner was a change and definitely outside the established Alsace formula – prawn cocktail, magret de canard and tarte aux pommes. We enjoyed this very much – along with another bottle of the great wine.

The pitter-patter of rain during the night was a worry but it cleared to become another warm and sunny day. The longest day, at 22km, this was also the best and most varied day of the walk.

All this climbing had led us to consider the application of Tour de France parlance to walking. Le Tour separates its riders into “rouleurs”, those who excel on the flat, and “grimpeurs”, or hill climbers. Without doubt, we decided, we are rouleurs – that is, we go better on the flat. Today’s climbs however were manageable – maybe it just comes with practice.

Yesterday’s steps had to be retraced for 2 km, returning again to the very pretty village of Breitenau. Then, after a long slow climb, we reached the high point of the day at the Rocher du Coucou. This was another 600m climb up to 855m. The view of the plain and the valleys was expansive, though again the valleys were full of haze, smoke and smog.

The track passed by the ruins of the Frankenbourg castle which was a short climb just off the track, and continued on a track through sandstone country with heather growing by the path. After a while there was a change to open forests in the midst of which huge conglomerate rocks stood up like the ruined castles. Every now and then gaps in the trees opened up wide vistas well beyond the ridges. All in all the day’s scenery and forests were a welcome change from the gloomy pine forests.

Just before reaching Frankenbourg castle was an impressive rocky formation called the Rocher du Coucou or Cuckoo’s Rock. On the top of this rock is a 50 m tall telecommunication tower to aid television transmission down in the deep valleys. While this seemed to be a visual horror in this lovely environment such structures are really more of a fact of life as most tall peaks throughout France are crowned by tall towers, weather beacons or gigantic crosses.

Descending some more, we had lunch on a little creek before climbing again to the Ortenbourg castle, another impressive ruin overlooking the valley. Lots of French families had been picnicking on the holiday and were now lazing about enjoying the afternoon sun or clambering over the ruins of the castle. We joined them, scrambling around the ruins and then it was a delightful walk through the vineyards in the late afternoon sunlight to Dieffenthal and the Hotel les Châteaux – so named because of its fine view back towards the châteaux dotted along the ridges.

In the late autumn, the grape leaves were all turning red and yellow, though some of the vines still had grapes to be picked. As these were very wizened little fruit it seemed likely that these were for the celebrated late picked vintages.

Our room here was very grand with a lovely view of the vineyards and the castles which were floodlit overnight. Dinner, believe it or not, was a repeat of the previous night – still good but almost a letdown not to have the Alsatian specialties repeating themselves.

A large group of local people was enjoying a night out – eating and drinking well and singing along to an accordion. Their fun was infectious and the entire dining room enjoyed the ambience of the evening. It was fascinating to listen in to conversations, the local bi-lingual people naturally dropping in and out of French, German and the local dialect without realising it was happening. This region has been backward and forward between France and Germany so many times in its history, but the culture seems to be more German than French. A rereading of the events of the past 400 years or more leads to the conclusion that it was perhaps Germany that “was robbed” in spite of the opposite position taken in all the French literature available locally.

There were no shops in Dieffenthal but the hotel was happy to make some sandwiches and sell us a bottle of wine for our 19 km walk to le Hohwald. This was Day 6 and the second last day. We made an early start in the crisp morning air back up the ridge, through the vineyards and open forests, to find yet another ruin, Bernstein castle, overlooking the plain.

Then, following the GR 5 we marched along forest paths, so deep in fallen leaves, that the path was quite hidden. At this point the route climbs to the summit of Ungersberg at 900 m and then goes down the other side to Col de l’Ungersberg. It seemed a better option to avoid an unnecessary climb and follow the road which ran right round the mountain to the Col and a good spot for lunch. There was a glorious light in the trees, shining through the last of the golden leaves. Once again there should have been an expansive view of the valleys, mountains and towns, but disappointingly the smog and mist were still hanging there.

The track then ran down into thick forests and came to a little creek which it followed towards Le Hohwald. This was a wide valley sprinkled with houses and little farms. The village of Le Hohwald itself was quite elusive and our hotel seemed even more so, 2 km past the village. But there were lots of walkers to give directions - mostly elderly couples, enjoying an after-lunch stroll in the afternoon sunshine.

The very grand Hotel le Clos Ermitage, at 4.00 pm, was still mopping up after Sunday lunch and in some disarray – as we were after what had seemed to be a very long day. A beer and a hot shower provided their habitual pickup. Ready for a hearty meal we were greatly surprised to be offered a minimal menu of soup, salad and charcuterie and it seemed that someone had to go out to get even this.

It eventuated that this was the hotel’s opening weekend after being taken over by an ambitious young couple who had just completed a huge and very expensive renovation. The hotel had been full of guests all weekend and after 45 couverts for lunch they had run out of food. Later we shared a drink and a good laugh – they were fun and we hope they were to make a success of the enterprise. We were their first Australians.

Next morning there were a number of alternatives to complete our circuit. Somewhat weary of climbing through forests, we chose a short route of 8 km which involved only a brief climb and then a steep slither along muddy tracks into Villé. On the outskirts of Villé it started to rain so no-one felt guilty to be cutting the last day short. There was just time for a coffee before catching a bus to Sélestat and then a train back to Strasbourg.

In Strasbourg, the European Parliament in was in full session so hotels were heavily booked. After several attempts we found one not booked out by European politicians and their bureaucrats.

Strasbourg is busy and elegant and, in its preparations for Christmas, had quite a festive air. Restaurants seemed to have moved on from Baekeoffe and Choucroute, though if you look around they are there. Pork products and sauerkraut remain the basis of many meals. The only pine tree to be seen was a huge Christmas tree in the Cathedral square.

Christmas is promoted as a special time to visit Alsace and all the little hotels we stayed in were offering special packages. Usually under snow, the pine clad hillsides and forests are like a Christmas card. Indeed it is claimed that the tradition of the decorated Christmas tree started in Alsace, in the town of Sélestat in 1531.

In the towns there are beautiful street decorations and the traditional Christmas markets have become an attraction in themselves. The biggest of these is in Strasbourg which dates back to the Middle Ages. It runs from the Feast of Saint-Nicolas in early December onwards to Christmas.

It is a short 3 hour train trip from Strasbourg to Paris, travelling first through fields and fields of cabbages, no doubt soon to be made into choucroute, and then through the Champagne country.

How to get to the Vosges...

The Vosges are easily accessible by car from Alsace’s main cities Strasbourg, Colmar, and Mulhouse, as well as from the Lorraine town of Nancy and Metz.

If you travel from Australia you could either take a flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle, Zurich or Frankfurt Airports and rent a car from there.

The TGV from Paris-Gare de l’Est takes 1.30 hours to Nancy and Metz, and just over 2 hours to Strasbourg, and also stops at Colmar and Mulhouse.

Visit the Vosges

Alsace Regional Tourism Committee:

www.tourisme-alsace.com

Alsace Wines official website:

http://www.vinsalsace.com

Tourist information site of Lorraine:

www.tourisme-lorraine.fr

Interregional tourism Committee of the Vosges Mountain range:

http://www.massif-des-vosges.com

Regional Natural Park of the Ballons des Vosges (Hautes-Vosges):