Distance walked 0km

My original plan was to walk to Belfort where I was taking a series of trains to get back home. However, after yesterday’s walk over ballon d’Alsace I did not fancy a flat walk through forest followed by a 2km walk through the outskirts of Belfort so I decided to get the bus. This would give me time to spend most of the day looking round Belfort. It will be easy to start against from Giromagny to cross the Belfort gap to reach the Jura mountains.

The traverse of the Vosges passes through some magnificent country but the joy of walking is tempered by the many reminders of the conflicts that have gone on in this part of Europe for over half a millennium. A final example was at the bus stop: two brass plaques set in the pavement by the market square commemorating a couple who were transported to Auchwitz by the Gestapo and their house destroyed.

In Belfort I spent the rest of the morning walking through the old town and visiting the citadel. This town has been involved in multiple wars. It was besieged by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war. It withstood capture but, as part of the peace agreement, was handed over the the Germans. The French force were allowed to march out of the citadel with their colours and their bravery was commemorated by a magnificent statue designed by Bartholdi (who also designed the Statue of Liberty)

The lion is the largest statue in France. I wandered round the citadel. The views back to the high mountains and over the surrounding plains explain why it was such a strategic point.

Inside the citadel there was a museum mainly dedicated to military memorabilia, which I did not find particularly interesting. More to my taste was the archeological section. There is evidence that there has been continuous human occupation here since the Neanderthals.

Outside there were extensive earthworks, added to over the centuries

There was a music festival in the Old Town so, after a leisurely lunch, I wandered round admiring the buildings, drinking beer and listening to the bands. The whole old town had been segregated. There were at least four stages in some of the squares and small parks. Sadly, showing that human conflict is a real threat currently, you had to be body searched to enter the festival and the road approaches were blocked by concrete barriers to prevent car attacks.

There was a wide variety of music to listen to: Brazilian jazz, a French jazz orchestra, rap, electronica and a guitar band were some of the genres on offer.

In summary, this was a walk with a lot of forest. When the path did emerge from the trees the views were amazing. The southern half was more open. If you only have time to do part of the trek I would recommend starting from Ribeauville. I did enjoy walking through the forest. The trees are much more widely spaced than the thick forests of northern Britain so there was much more undergrowth. The constant sound of birdsong was very relaxing. Day by day more spring flowers emerged. I found wandering around the castle ruins interesting and the Alsatian villages and towns were pretty.

The beauty of the walk was compromised by the constant reminders of war and man’s inhumanity to man, this was particularly sobering in the current geopolitical climate. In Western Europe we have been very lucky to live in a time of relative peace and freedom, unlike much of the rest of the world. We are going to lose this if we are not careful.

If you want to do the walk, I used the Cicerone guide “The GR5 Trail: The Vosges and the Jura” and the Topoguide “Traversée du Massif des Vosges” published by FFRandonée. The latter has 1:50 000 strip maps and a lot of useful information, if you have some rudimentary French and Google Translate.

The food was good, described by someone I met as “French quality, German quantity.” The small auberges and hotel-restaurants were uniformly good.

Some of the facts I have mentioned came from the above publications. The web site Visit Alsace was also a good source of information. There were information boards, often just in French. If I found facts on Wikipedia I verified them from an alternative source.

What next? This year, a 10 day walk in the Jungfrau area. My knees are starting to hurt on the long descents so I will have to see how I cope with this before I decide what to do once I reach Lake Geneva.

Distance walked 22.2km

Another bright, sunny day and, after the disappointment of the weather on the Grand Ballon I was looking forward to my climb to the Ballon d’Alsace.

I needed to climb back up to GR5. To do this I followed a forest track from behind the refuge which climbed gently up through the forest to reach GR5 at the meadow of Haute Bers, about a kilometre from where I left it last night. Looking across the meadow, I could just see the Swiss alps in the distance.

I entered the forest and had a 4km undulating walk along or just below the ridge. There were occasional views over the surrounding hills.

Although I could see the edge of the ballon d’Alsace the rounded summit did not come into view until I reached Rundkopf.

I now had a 100m descent through trees to the col before a final, steep ascent to the Ballon d’Alsace (1247m).

Someone had a less strenuous way to reach the top

The views were tremendous, well worth the effort to get here. Near the top there is a statue of Joan of Arc

After the Franco-Prussian war the border between France and Germany crossed the ballon. The Cicerone guide states that this statue was erected on the French side of the border to emphasise that Alsace was part of France.

I now had a long descent to Giromagny. I lost the waymarkers at the road, probably because I was contemplating a celebratory beer at the auberge near the top. This meant that I missed what is meant to be a very striking memorial to the mine clearing team after WWII. It also meant that I had to follow the road for about a kilometre tp pick up GR5 at Chaumiere.

I left the road and began my descent through woodland. At first the path gently zigzagged down the mountain until it reached the Etang du Petit Haut.

The path became steeper now, as it approached the river Savoureuse. There was a very steep section as it followed the river which tumbled down the mountainside in a series of cataracts and waterfalls., sometimes passing through narrow gorges.

I reached a road and the hard work was over. I now had an easy walk through the wide valley to Lepuis and Giromagny. The high mountains of the Vosges were behind me and today was a fitting climax to the trek.

Distance walked 20.4km

I left the town by walking up a steep road past houses to join a track that entered woodland. I had a good view of Thann and the decorated roof of the gothic church

There was then a sustained climb through forest. After about an hour I arrived at a tree marked “Napoleonplatz.” The area on the map is marked as “Place du Roi de Rome.”

I was unable to find a reference as to how this area got its name. The only relevant fact I could find is that in 1840 Napoleon’s body was repatriated from St Helena to Paris but it was transported by ship across the ocean and up the river Seine, not carried through the Vosges.

The weather was perfect. I continued the climb through the forest. Next to the ferme auberge at the Col du Hundsruck there was a clearing with good views over the surrounding hills.

After another hour or so I finally reached the high meadows at Thanner Huber.

After yesterdays mist and wind, it was great to be walking in the open in bright sunshine. I reached the shoulder of the hill at refuge Rossberg-Waldmatt (top left in the above picture)

As you can see, it was quite hazy in the background, nevertheless it was a great view. I now had a wonderful walk through the meadows

They may only be dandelions and buttercups but the yellow flowers amongst the grass was very pleasing to the eye. At Vogelstein (1181m) there was an impressive rocky outcrop.

If my rudimentary French is correct, an information panel informed me that these outcrops are granite with is more resistant to erosion than the sedimentary sandstone that makes up much of this area.

I had a short, steep descent through woodland before crossing another meadow to reach the ferme auberge Belacker.

I climbed the slope on the other side of the farm and re-entered the forest. I now had a 6km walk along the ridge, with quite a lot of height gain and loss over two peaks, before descending to the Col des Perches.

I now had to leave the ridge to find my bed for the night. I joined GR531 which descended very steeply down an eroded path to the lac des Perches.

This was aptly named because there were a large number of fish in the lake, which I assumed were perch. I thought my climbing was done for the day but after the lake there was a steep, rough ascent over the shoulder of Joppelberg. Finally, the path zigzagged steeply down the mountainside to reach the Neuweiher lakes

I crossed the dam between the two lakes and followed a track to reach the refuge where I received a friendly doggy greeting.

Even better was the greeting by the guardienne which involved a glass of cold beer. Suitably refreshed she showed me to my room which was a single room rather than the dormitory I was expecting. I guess it is early in the season so she could spread groups out when space was available.mAfter showering I went down to eat. It always impresses me how they serve up good food in these remote locations. After salad there was a short rib beef stew with vegetables and spaetzles. Just what I needed!

Distance walked 26.2km

Although I started today near the top of the ridge there was still a moderate amount of ascent (600m) and a lot of descent (1300m) today. I find long descents more taxing on my knees than ascents so this was going to be a challenging day for me.

When I looked out of my window I could see that the mist was down. I had looked at the weather forecast last night (I tend to use meteo blue on the continent, which I find is usually fairly accurate) which promised cloud and sunny intervals. Trying to be optimistic, I hoped the sun would burn off the mist and cloud cover would be above the mountain tops.

I settled my bill at the hotel Wolf, dodged the massive dog in the foyer (he had gone off by the time I got my camera out). Another case of nominative determinism I thought. I left the hotel, the weather did not look hopeful

Every so often the cloud looked as if it was going to lift.

I joined the path along the ridge but there was not much to see. At least I was protected from the wind when I was in forest but it was chilly. Although it was not actually raining there was dampness in the air. At one time I lost a significant amount of height which I had to regain to get to the Col du Haag. At 1233m I was well into the mist. I thought about trying to find my way round the mountain, there was a path marked, but I was worried I would lose GR5.

I set off up the mountain. It was not actually a particularly difficult path to follow, stony but not too steep, but once I had left the col the wind got up to gale force. I passed the memorial to “Les Diables Bleu,” the French alpine troops who fought in this area in World War I. Soon I reached the radar station at the top

It was very unpleasant on the summit (1424m, the highest peak in the Vosges) so I did not linger. As soon as I dropped off the top to the other side of the mountain I was protected from the wind. I was surprised how many day walkers there were braving the conditions.

Not far down from the summit there is a large car park and a cafe and souvenir shop for those driving the Route du Crete. I arrived at the same time as a geriatric coach party. I do forget I am geriatric too! Anyway, I queued for coffee and a Linz tart and was quite happy as it was just 11:30 and I only had 18km to go.

For once I was sensible and checked the map and looked for the red rectangle to make sure I was descending on the correct path. Within about 20 minutes I was below the cloud, walking in a mixture of forest and meadows

Still some mist but not bad. Some of the clearings are for ski pistes, this is a red run. There are cross country ski and snowshoe routes marked on some of the paths I have been on as well.

I passed the ferme auberge du grand Ballon. a number of the farms run a sideline in lunches for tourists, walkers and cyclists. The problem is I didn’t have time for a French lunch. I remember stopping at an establishment on the Tour du Mont Blanc many years ago. “Voulez-vous desirer manger?” “Oui” we said, thinking of a beer and a sandwich. “Deux repas!” called out the owner to the kitchen. Three courses later we staggered across the road to sleep it off. We didn’t cross the next pass that day!

I continued to descend. For a few minutes the top of the Grand Ballon appeared but it was soon lost in the clouds.

I passed another WWI memorial at Firstacker. I joined a path with a sign on the path “passage difficile.” I could have stayed on the road but that is not much fun with motorbikes going round hairpins as fast as they can.

In fact, the path followed the road, about 20 metres below. It was not too difficult but there were a lot of ups and downs. Also there were several trees that had fallen across the path that had to be climbed over so it was time consuming. After another hour or so I emerged from the forest at the Col du Silberloch. There is a cemetery and a national memorial to those who were killed here in WWI, mainly 1915, when there were fierce battles here as both sides considered it of strategic importance.

I grabbed a coffee in the exhibition centre. The woman I first saw at Col de la Schlucht was here. She was finishing her walk and waiting for a taxi to take her down to Thann. I was tired and I must admit if my a French was better I would have asked to share her cab.

Instead, I crossed the road to take a path that climbed to the ferme-auberge at Molkerain. Most of these auberges have not yet opened for the summer, I think Molkerain is also a refuge.

Now I began the final, long descent to Thann. I got my first view of the town from the promontory of Rosenbourg

Just before Thann there is a ruined castle (same story, built in 13th century destroyed in mid 1600s). There is a portion of the tower that has fallen on its side to form a ring called the “eye of the witches” but I was too tired to climb up to it.

The main church in Thann is a magnificent piece of gothic architecture. One of the things I learnt on the walking tour in Strasbourg was that the spires and arched windows are meant to direct your gaze upward to Heaven and the sculptures and carvings are there to re-inforce biblical stories taught in church when most of the people could not read.

I arrived at my hotel. It was rather upmarket compared to the places where I usually stay

While not a stately home, the Parc Hotel was owned by a prominent family before WWI. Between the wars it was a very upmarket hotel. All the rooms on the first floor had labels indicating whom of the great and good has slept there. I shared my room with a famous general (not at the same time!)

By now the sun was out and the weather forecast for the last two days is excellent.

Distance walked 14.1km

I don’t know why but I found today very tiring even though the walk was not long. Of course, having stayed in the valley I had a 700m climb to get back up to the ridge. It was a long, unremitting ascent. There were occasional gaps in the trees allowing me to see across the valley to the tree covered mountains opposite. I came into a small clearing where there was a stone to sit on and a good view back down the valley

From this point the ascent was more gradual and I eventually emerged from the forest into the high pastures.

I haven’t seen many domesticated animals but there was a small herd of cows. The black and white one, at least, is a Vosgienne. They are only found in this part of France and their milk is used to make the local cheeses, especially Munster cheese of which I have eaten a significant amount on this walk. They are adapted to live at high altitudes.

I now got confused. I lost the red balisages which mark the route. I then managed to look at the wrong strip map in my Club Vosgien book. I set off the wrong way, walking down to a Col instead of up the hill. I knew roughly where I was so, once I had looked at the correct map I turned round and followed the red markers back the way I had just come. A schoolboy error which I quickly noticed and only walked about an extra 200 metres.

Anyway, I was back on the ridge.

The walking was much easier now, gentle undulations along the ridge. The views were excellent. It was quite cold and there was intermittent light rain. I only had about 8km to go so I pressed on. In the distance I could see Le Grand Ballon, the highest peak in the Vosges and tomorrow’s target.

Markstein is over 1100m above sea level so I did not lose much height off the ridge. It is a ski resort and there has been some investment in it because some of the pistes have snow cannons. They seem to be reliant on drag lifts, some looked very steep. From the summer walker’s point of view there were no chair lifts or gondolas to spoil the view. The pistes were just grass tracks cut in the trees. The skiing is a bit precarious here because of the low altitude and climate change. The area is trying to encourage summer visitors. As well as walkers and mountain bikers many of the roads hug the crests so the area is advertised as the “Route des Crêtes.” There were certainly a lot of road cyclists and Motor bikers.

The hotel had a nice terrace bar overlooking the hills but it was far too cold to sit out today. I guess it depends on what you are wearing, I normally sit on these terraces in full ski gear in the middle of winter!

Distance walked 10.3km

This was a short day and I took my time. Col de la Schlucht is 1139m above sea level so I only had about 200m to ascend to reach the top of Le Hohneck.

I started with a gentle climb into light woodland which made a pleasant start to the day.

I was walking slowly and quietly. A Chamois walked nonchalantly across the path

The only other wild mammals that I have seen on this walk have been a couple of squirrels. There are a lot of wild boar in the forests, particularly further north. I wasn’t expecting to see one but I thought I may have seen where they root through the undergrowth. European wild cats and lynx live in the forests but they are very elusive. I emerged from the forest into a meadow. Le Hohneck was just ahead

I sat down to admire the view and noticed that a small tear in the fabric near the front of my left boot had got larger and the rubber rand was starting to split. I can cope with a wet foot for a couple of days but if the boot fails I am in trouble. Hopefully I can get to Thann in 2 days when I will have to make an assessment whether it is safe to continue.

My path lay to the right, circumnavigating the steep sided bowl separating me from the summit. It was a very easy ascent. I have a good view back down the path from the summit slopes.

I easily reached the summit. It was a bit early for lunch but I wanted to sit inside as it was quite cold on the summit of Le Hohneck (1363m). I got some soup and tarte aux myrtilles. I stayed for a while having a coffee and admiring the view.

The path became steep. The lake of du Scheissrothried and the Wormsa valley were laid out before me. Mittlach could be seen in the valley.

Over the last week woodland and alpine plants have begun to flower

I descended steeply, first across the meadow and then through forest, alongside the river to arrive at the lake

The sun broke through the clouds and I was happy to sit on the bank for half an hour watching a fisherman fiddle with his rods. He didn’t catch anything, I hope he had something else for his dinner. Soon the cloud returned and it was time to put my pack back on and head off. I continued steeply down the river, now following a series of short cataracts

I arrived at the lac de Fischboedle as it started to rain

There was a shelter there so I waited for 20 minutes or so it to stop but the bad weather seemed set in for the afternoon. I donned my wet weather gear and set off. Of course, within 10 minutes it stopped raining and the sun came out. I continued down through woodland to Mittlach. After a walk there is nothing better than a barman bringing you a small bottle of wine

Distance walked 18.6km

This felt like a much longer walk than it was, probably because there was a lot of height to be gained and lost. I did have a lazy start, I didn’t leave the hotel until 9am. I walked through the village. Like many villages in tourist spots in the UK, there are at least 30 holiday homes (gîtes in France). There was a butcher that had closed down. A bar that had been shut for a while. Depressing.

I was soon climbing again

I re-entered forest and continued to climb until I came to a clearing by an auberge

After coffee I continued to climb through the forest towards the summit of La Tête des Faux. Now the day became depressing. During World War I Le Bonhomme was on the French-German border. The French massed on the hills on the other side of Le Bonhomme (from where I had descended yesterday) and the German controlled La Tête des Faux. This was an important strategic mountain as it overlooks Colmar,which the French wanted to capture. The French send an elite Alpine force to take the hill. Between December 1914 and February 1915 nearly 1000 soldiers from both sides were killed.

The first site I came to was shortly after my coffee stop, the site of an old German cemetery

The bodies have since been repatriated to Germany

A little further up was a nicer sight, the peaceful Étang du Devin

Shortly after a reminder of the battle fought here, a notice telling me to stay on the path because of the risk of unexploded ordnance

The next structure was the remains of a télépherique used by the German troops to bring up supplies from the valley

There were several overgrown trenches and old blockhouses, which I presume were gun emplacements

Near the top of the mountain there are the remains of defensive barriers

The French have installed a memorial cross and stone at the top

And as you descend from the mountain, the French cemetery

I was reminded of the Eric Bogle powerful song “No Man’s Land.” Listen to June Tabor’s version ( plus “and the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” also by Eric Bogle) And, if you think that the First World War is irrelevant to today, then go review the rise of nationalism (now called populism) in 19th century European politics and compare with today

Sermon over.

Suitably depressed I continued down the mountain to the Col du Calvaire. Of course, being me, nothing puts me off my food and it was lunchtime. There are a lot of small ski areas in the Vosges and they are all struggling with snow cover because of climate change (the minimum winter temperature has increased by 2 degrees over the last 20 years) so they are diversifying. The chair lift was running to bring day walkers and bikers up from the valley, there was a toboggan track (looked fun!), a paintball area and a bar that sold food. Omelette, chips and beer went down a treat.

I had a fairly steep climb after lunch, taking me high above lac Blanc that I could see through the trees.

A little further on and I emerged from the trees to enter Les Hautes Chaumes. These are areas where the trees have been cleared, originally to provide high pastures for animal grazing in the summer. For the walker, they provide extensive views.

This particular area is the Gaston du Faing. Much of the scrub is bilberry bushes, I can see why Tarte aux Myrtilles is an Alsatian speciality. I continued walking though this landscape for several kilometres. Ahead, I could see Le Honecker, the high point of tomorrow’s walk. A little late lying snow can be seen on its northern slopes.

The peak visible in the distance is Grand Ballon, the highest peak in the Vosges but still 3 days walk away.

I reached the top of Gazon du Faing, 1302m. The path curved round a steep rock face as it led to the next peak on the ridge

This really was a superb ridge walk. It follows the old French/German border and there were many boundary stones with D on the German side and F on the French side

To the south-east I could look down the valley towards Munster .

I crossed the peak of Tanet and re-entered the forest as I started to descend to the Col de la Schlucht where I was spending the night.

Distance walked 27.1km

I got an early start. As well as the distance there was about 1100m of ascent, according to the Cicerone guide. I was out of the apartment just after 7:30. There must be a Saturday market in the Place de la République because traders were setting up stalls. I was tempted by the patisserie by the square that had just opened but I was disciplined. I took the road out of the square and climbed up through the modern suburbs.

I could see the Ulrich and Guirsberg castles across the valley. They may have been members of the same family but the steep up and down between the castles must have limited visiting

As I was about to turn off the road to enter the forest I saw the entrance to a vineyard. Definitely a case of nominative determinism.

The disadvantage of going down to the Alsatian plain for accommodation is the climb up the following morning, Ribeauville is only about 260m above sea level and it was a long, 400m climb to the Col du Seelacker.

I continued to climb up through the forest. At a path junction there was a tree stump and a sign.

The sign means “French pine.” I do not know why this particular tree earned its sign, or what has happened to it.

A little further on there was a memorial to a 26 year old who was killed by a lightning strike.

The climb continued unremittingly. At 938m I arrived at the Koenigsstuhl.

I don’t not know which, if any, king sat here. I tried to take a selfie of myself but it was useless. A couple of German walkers passed me, we would see each other on and off for much of the day. It is not far to the modern French-German border (the Rhine) so there are almost as many German day walkers as French.

At last a rest for my legs as I descended to the village of Aubure, passing another rock outcrop on the way, the Rocher du Tetras.

The respite from climbing was short lived, I was soon on an uphill path but, for the first time, it was through a meadow rather than forest

At the end of the meadow I joined a road. I passed a look out post named after Kaiser Wilhelm Ausblick, built as a lookout post in the First World War, I was surprised the French have not demolished it.

Apparently it was used to observe battles during the war, the view from it is amazing.

The ridge line is more or less my route for the next few days. I continued to climb through the forest but now and again there were gaps in the trees providing a view.

Onwards and upwards! After another 5km I arrived at a shelter at the Pierre des Trois-Bans (1126m), so called because it marks the boundary between three French départments.

I now joined the ridge but there were only occasional views between the trees. It started to snow! It didn’t feel that cold and it didn’t last long, just long enough to put my waterproofs on, and then take them off again. I was overtaken by a group of daywalkers, one of them had a novel way of lightening his load, I am not sure how well it works.

Eventually I arrived at the high point of the day, the Petit Brézouard (1203m). I was above the trees and the view was fantastic.

Now I began a long descent. On the way down I passed a mosaic designed by the German battalion that occupied this sector for most of the First World War

This lay undiscovered until after the Second World War. Amazingly it remained intact until it was vandalised in 1985. It was restored in 2005 and is now secured behind iron bars.

I continued my descent down to the Col des Bagenelles. This area has been farmed so, clear of trees, I could see my route down to Le Bonhomme.

From here it was a 3km descent to the village, nestling in the valley

I was very tired. Fortunately (for me) my auberge was next to GR5 as it entered the village. I was happy to have something to eat followed by an early night.

Distance walked 19.8km

All the towns and villages that I have walked through in Alsace have been very pretty and Chatenois was no exception. The church has a wooden tower called the Tour des Sorcières (witches tower). I do not know how it got its name.

One of the Caminos passes through Chatenois. I had a thought that if I want an alternative to crossing the alps I could head off on Caminos via Geneva through France and Spain. It’s only about 2200km to Santiago from here!

Many of the older European towns were walled in medieval times. Part of the Chatenois wall remains

I climbed up to a road that led between vineyards to the edge of the forest. I joined a forest track that wound upwards round the side of the mountain. Breaks in the trees gave me a view across the valley towards the castles that I passed yesterday

I climbed steadily through the woods up to an unusually shaped marker stone. I couldn’t find out why it has five sides.

I reached the road that leads to the castle Haut Koenigsbourg. I crossed the road and the path now became steep, zigzagging it’s way up the hill and crossing the road several times. I stopped for a sandwich at the castle cafe. The seating area has a wonderful panorama

The Club Vosgien guide says that you can sometimes see the Swiss alps from here. I did think I could see snow in the far distance to the south.

The castle has an interesting history. It is mentioned in documents from the mid 12th century. In the 15th century it was destroyed by robber knights and then rebuilt. It was then sacked during the thirty years war. Then, when Germany took control of Alsace after the Franco-Prussian war, it was rebuilt for Kaiser Wilhelm II, completed in 1908. With its multiple levels it reminded me of the fictional Gormenghast castle.

I left the castle and re-entered the forest. After a moderately steep downhill section it was a straightforward 5km walk to the village of Thannenkirch

Here I crossed the border from the bas-Rhin into the Haut-Rhin. That means the hills will be higher tomorrow.

I walked through the village and then had an easy walk over the shoulder of the hill you can see behind the church. This took me to the three castles than overlook the town of Ribeauville.

The first, and highest, castle is Haut-Ribeaupierre.

There has probably been a castle here since the mid 11th century but this building dates from the 13th century. It was built by the Ribeaupierre family, powerful Alsatian nobles. I am a little confused from my reading of articles on the internet. I think that they only used it as a residence for a short while and its main function was as a watchtower and a prison.

A steep, rocky descent brought me to St Ulrich’s castle.

The fortress was probably built in the 11th century but became home to the Ribeaupierre nobility in the late 12th century. They lived here until they moved down to the town in the 16th century.

Continuing the steep, rocky, downhill path I could look up and see the third castle, Girsberg castle

This was built for a member of the Ribeaupierre family (please don’t give my children ideas!) “Oh yes, getting married are you? I will quickly build a castle for your dowry.” In fact, it was only occupied for about 200 years.

I continued to walk steeply downhill until I came to the old town wall of Ribeauville.

The town expanded during the Middle Ages and the town walls were rebuilt periodically to protect the developing town. I descended to Sinne square, where the size of wine casks used to be measured.

I continued to pass under the butchers gate to enter the “old” town

The butchers gate gets its name from the butchers shops that accumulated at its base. There used to be an abattoir just outside the walls. There is a profusion of old half-timbered houses so, unsurprisingly, the town is a major tourist attraction. It is dominated by the castles above it

In the Middle Ages minstrels were given special protection by Lord Ribeaupierre. Each year there is a festival in the town to commemorate this and there are a lot of minstrel statues.

The emblem of Alsace is the stork but they nearly became extinct in the 1970s. A reintroduction programme was successful and I saw a few nests around the town

I found my way to my apartment, an old house in the old town. A day off before the hard work starts!

Distance walked 25.1km

Andlau was another pretty village with the typical Alsace half-timbered houses.

I had a long way to go today so I did not visit the Romanesque church with is said to have very old and impressive bas reliefs telling biblical stories. I was surprised to see a statue of a bear in the main square.

There is a legend that Richarde, wife of the Western Roman Emperor Charles the Fat (many European monarchs had great names), was accused of adultery and suffered trial by fire. By coming through this unscathed her innocence was proven (sounds like a medieval form of VAR). She was told by an angel that a bear would show her where to build an abbey as a thanksgiving. She saw a bear near the river Andlau so built the abbey there.

Richards did build an abbey here, the church is all that remains, but several years before she was accused of adultery. The legend lives on and the bear is a symbol of Andlau. It is a major wine growing area, hence the bear is eating grapes.

Soon after passing the church I joined a track that entered the forest. Initially this climbed steeply but soon the gradient became less severe. After an hour and a half I came to the Gruckert refuge.

All the refuges I have passed have been closed. The Cicerone guide says they have very restricted opening times. This was a nice place to rest for a few minutes. The trees are a bit more widely spaced than in the northern Vosges so views are more common.

The next 3km to the Col de l’Ungersberg were fairly level. The path then became steeper and zig-zagged up to the tower at the top of l’Ungersberg (901m).

GR5 runs along the eastern side of the Vosges range here so most of the views are to the east and south-east.

I now had a very steep descent down a rocky path. I passed a very oddly shaped sandstone rock

I now descended to a few houses at Sommerain. The path then crossed another hill to descend to cross a road, there was then a more sustained climb to Bernstein castle

The earliest part of the castle was built in the Tenth century. It was then added to over the next few hundred years before being abandoned and left to ruin in the mid-seventeenth century. It has commanding views over the Alsatian plain

There was then a 4km walk through forest before I arrived at Ortenbourg castle.

This castle was repeatedly fought over and rebuilt until if was finally sacked by the Swedes during the thirty years war in the mid 17th century. As we have seen, this war spent the demise of many of the Vosges castles

I now had a steep descent down to Chatenois. At the bottom of the mountain I followed the river for about 2km. I had a good view up the hill to l’Ortenbourg and Ramstein castles

I crossed the river and motorway and then followed to road to my Auberge in Chatenois.