Distance walked 12.7km + extra

Today was meant to be a short day but….

It had rained overnight but it was dry when I left Wangenbourg. There was a lot of low cloud. I was climbing the Schneeberg (snow mountain) and I hoped the cloud would lift by the time I got there so I would have clear views.

I left the village by walking up a short cul-de-sac and climbing some steps to arrive on GR53 in about ten minutes, it would have been so much quicker if I had found the path last night! There was now a continuous climb from the village to the mountain, not challenging as Wangenbourg is set on a plateau about 400m above sea level. I didn’t hold high hopes for the weather though.

The climb was straightforward at first. I had left the hotel with a Belgian couple out for a day hike. They stopped to get a picnic and caught me up as I reached a junction with a forest track. I stopped for a drink and they set off up the track. As I started to follow them I saw a red waymark indicating a narrow path up the mountain. I knew they were climbing the Schneeberg but didn’t know their route. I nearly called out to them, wish that I had.

I took things slowly now, in the hope the cloud would lift. I arrived at the Col du Schneeberg and it looked like the sun was going to break through.

The cloud came back in as I climbed up to the summit. The Belgian couple arrived, they eventually walked back to the GR53 route, I felt bad not having called out to them. If you tell a Belgian that you come from Manchester they invariably say something like “Kevin DeBrune.” I pointed out the new hero is Jeremy Doku.

I had a rest but the cloud didn’t lift so I headed downhill. There was a path diversion so I followed the red rectangles. Then I must have missed one because I ended up on a different trail. Fortunately I could work out where I was. I continued downhill where I picked up another way marked path. I then lost these waymarks but found my way along forest tracks back to GR53. No harm done except for extra distance and time.

My happiness was short lived. I was following a path when there were several trees that had been cut down and were blocking the path. I climbed up around the trees and descended back to the path beyond the obstruction. The path switchbacked back to the felled tree trunks. This time there was no way through so I had to climb back up the hill finding my way through the forest.. A lot of energy and time wasted. Eventually I arrived back to the forest road, returned to the place where GR53 left the track and saw “deviation” painted in big letters on a rock. How did I miss that? Feeling chastened I followed the diversion and all was well. Again, extra distance and time.

I headed downhill and reached the ruined Nideck castle

This has the same history as most of the other castles I have passed. There is also a legend that a giant lived here. A summary is that his daughter brought a farmer back to the castle to use as a toy but the giant made her take him back to her farm. It is meant to be a moral story about how we should care of each other. You can look up the full tale on the internet.

Now came the best part of the day. I continued down the hill towards the Nideck waterfall. I could hear the waterfall and see the gorge but the fall itself was hidden from view.

A series of steps led down to the base of the fall.

I now had a very pleasant, easy walk through the gorge and down the valley to Oberhaslach

Distance walked 24.7km

Saverne had some nice old buildings in the centre. The town was important in Roman times as a stopping place on the road from Lorraine to Central Europe, as I alluded to in yesterday’s post.

It was a wealthy town in the Middle Ages and, judging from the size of the houses I passed in the suburbs, it still is. At the edge of the suburbs I foiled a path that led up through woodland to a ridge. I continued along the ridge to Le Haut Barr castle. This was built on three sandstone outcrops and two of the sections were joined by a bridge. It was a stronghold of the Bishops of Strasbourg. It lasted longer than most castles I have seen this week. It was built in the 13th century and the bishops added to it over the next few hundred years. Unlike many of the other castles in Alsace it survived the 30 years war in the 1600s. It was used as a fortress in the award of the Spanish Succession and was in use until about 1770.

The castle has a commanding view over the Alsace plain.

I continued along the ridge as seen from the south-western end of the castle. The tower in the distance is part of the ruin of Grand Geroldseck castle

A little further along the ridge is a reconstruction of a semaphore and telegraph station which was one of the first in France, in use from 1798-1852. France was the first country to have a telecommunications network and this was part of the link connecting Paris and Strasbourg.

I continued walking to the remains of Grand and Petit Geroldsneck castles. These have the typical history of an Alsace castle: built in the 12th century, taken over by brigands and destroyed in the 17th century. There is little to see at the site of the Petite Geroldsneck but the ruins of Grand Geroldsneck were impressive.

At the end of the ridge there is the tour du Brotsch, built by Club Vosgien.

I descended from the ridge to a forest house at Haberacker. On the way I passed a large stone cistern but I cannot find any details of who built it or why it was there..

I had spent a lot of time looking round the castles and I still had a long way to walk so I pressed on through the forest. I emerged into fields near the village of La Houble. After a further few kilometres of forest walking I could see the Dabo rock with its chapel

According to the Cicerone guide, this was an ancient place of worship. A castle was built here in the 12th century and it was destroyed in the 17th century. The current chapel was built from the castle stones about 100 years later and is dedicated to Pope Leon IX who came from Alsace.

The path emerged at a road and I could see the waymark on the other side, I crossed the road and followed the path to a forest track but there was no red marker. I didn’t want to get my iPad or the Club Vosgien guide out because of the heavy rain. (Later, I read in the Cicerone guide that the way mark is difficult to see and it gave detailed instructions on how to find the path). Instead, I followed the track uphill. Eventually I got on to a tack with no navigation marks at all. I met a crossing track that went downhill so I followed it and ended up on a road. I was able to follow this to the hotel

I now had a 3km climb to the Col de la Schlief. By the time I got there it was starting to rain. I could see that Victorine had put his tent up and was sitting in the shelter. The rain became very heavy and I hurried downhill, glad that I was not camping.

Distance walked 20km

Walkmeter went bonkers today. It said I walked 27km today but both guide books and the footpath sign said the distance was about 20km. When I checked the GPS track it looked like that in some places I had walked round in circles several times. The system must be confused by the deep valleys. I then checked the other GFS data and they are all inaccurate. I will revise all the distances to correspond to those listed in the Club Vosgien Topoguide.

La Petite-Pierre means the Little Stone, presumably because it is built on a rocky outcrop

There was a light drizzle and it felt very humid as I set off this morning. I climbed uphill from the village, along a track that passed between two of the defensive walls of the castle. The path went uphill to the Rocher du Corbeau where there was a good view towards the forested hills.

The drizzle was now heavy enough for me to put my waterproof jacket on. I was partially protected from the rain by the forest.

After leaving the viewpoint I went down to the valley and the little hamlet of Kohlthalerhof. I climbed out of the other side of the valley and set off for Graufthal. There was not much of interest on these 5km. The only surprising thing was to arrive at a large clearing, miles from anywhere, to see a barbecue station and a football pitch. I descended through the forest to Graufthal.

There is evidence of Celtic and Roman occupancy here, this was an important trade route from the Lorraine plain into what is now a Germany. Graufthal was built around a Benedictine abbey and a convent. it was a site of glassmaking in the Middle Ages. The convent was destroyed in the 17th century wars and the population was decimated. Some of the survivors built houses against the pink sandstone cliffs.

The rear wall of the houses is the sandstone cliff. They had no electricity or running water. They were occupied until 1958 and the last resident called “Kate of the Rock” used to show tourists round her house as they became a tourist attraction in the 20th century.

The insides have been restored as a museum

A family with 8 children lived in one house, the family sleeping on a platform raised above the living room.

I set off down the valley to Oberhof. The German couple stopped and chatted, this is their last day, they are returning home from Saverne.

Oberhof was just a couple of houses. As I entered the forest it began to rain heavily and I donned my full wet weather gear. There was nothing I could do except press on as fast as I could, which is not fast!

As I came to a picnic area in a clearing the rain stopped and I sat down for a rest and a snack. A Frenchman, who I now know to be called Victorine, stopped for a chat. He started his walk in Saverne and is planning to cross the Vosges, then the Jura ending in Grenoble.

I joined a minor road. This crossed the railway line from Paris to Strasbourg, which I must have come on last week. The road then crossed the busy autoroute de l’est. After crossing another main road the walk became more interesting. I re-entered the forest. I came to an old Celtic earthwork called the Fossa del Pandours. This was a huge fort built to guard the main east-west route across the Vosges.

There were then a series of sandstone pinnacles. the German couple caught me up here. I thought that they were miles ahead but they had sheltered from the rain in the forest.

There is a legend that a Prince Charles of Lorraine leapt from this rock on horseback to escape his pursuers.

A little further on there was a Grotto carved in the rock.

At the bottom of the hill there was a memorial to Edmond About, one of the founding members of the Club Vogien.

It was threatening to rain again by the time I got to Saverne. This looks like a nice old town but I headed straight to the apartment I had rented for the night. Indeed it soon started raining again so sightseeing was abandoned.

Distance walked 20.5km 12.3 miles

I was very tempted to take a short cut to Wimmenau but the firstb5km would have been walking along a main road. Today was not far and mostly easy walking so I set off down quiet roads and forest paths to Lichtenberg. The castle was soon visible on top the hill

Lichtenberg lies at the foot of the castle. I climbed the hill. The first thing I saw in the village centre was a restaurant with a chambre d’hôte, which is the French term for a B and B. it also had a restaurant and was clearly in business so how come I could not find it on the internet?

The castle has been restored and there is a museum in it but it had not opened yet so I started off down the hill

I joined a forest path and set off to Wimmenau. I must admit the next 6km were not particularly interesting. It was forest with no interesting buildings or views. The most exiting thing was meeting the German couple from the hotel walking the other way. I do not know which route they took or where they were going after visiting the castle.

Then a minor disaster! I was relying on the bakery in Wimmenau to provide my lunch but it was shut. Fortunately a tabac was open so I was able to buy some biscuits and chocolate. There were some nice old buildings in Wimmenau, the most impressive being the old “Swiss House”

I joined another forest path. Again not very interesting walking for the first few kilometres. It is usual to have some boring days on a long distance walk, you have to get from one interesting area to the next.

Then things got better. I arrived at the Ochsenstall rocks where erosion has formed natural shallow caves in the sandstone.

My French guidebook says (I think) that foresters used to keep cows in here. Why someone needed to put a wooden cow in here I don’t understand! I met a young German couple who I have seen every day since Wissembourg.

After a couple more kilometres of forest walking I arrived at the village of Erckartswiller. This was a pretty village spread out along the road for about a kilometre. There is a Protestant retreat here with a thirteenth century sanctuary but it was not visible from the road. I think the Baggins’ have moved here

And maybe a young married couple (or old romantic couple)

The village certainly has an alternative feel to it.

Now came the first bit of climbing of the day. I r entered the forest and climbed up on to a ridge. Gaps in the trees gave good views over the adjacent hills. Near the top the path passed between two large slabs of sandstone

Shortly after I descended into la Petite-Pierre

I checked in and received an upgrade to a room with a view

It was only 3pm so it was time for a late lunch

At dinner the young German couple were at the next table. They are from Nuremberg but tomorrow is their last day of walking as they have to go back to work. The advantage of retirement!

Distance walked 22.8km/14.2 miles

GR53 ran in front of the hotel so I was on the trail immediately. I crossed under a railway line and had a 1km walk back along the road to the start of a forest path. The climb was much gentler than yesterday and I was soon at the ruins of Wasenbourg castle

In an earlier post I said that I did not know whether the Roman empire extended as far as north-east France. Excavations have found Gallo-Roman artefacts on this site and there was a temple dedicated to Mercury. The castle commands extensive views over the bas-Rhin.

Behind the castle is a Celtic site called the jardin des fees (the garden of the fairies). To the amateur there is little to be seen but prehistoric stone ramparts are found here. The path goes through a stone furrow which is a Celtic artefact. I just thought someone had cut it (in recent times)or it was natural erosion. There are also two holllowed out stones which some believe is natural erosion and others think is of prehistoric origin. Maybe the fairies needed somewhere to bathe.

The path then followed a ridge through the forest. I crossed two cols before an easy ascent to Wasenkoepfel (531m). A tower was built here but the surrounding trees have grown taller than the top of the tower so it seemed pointless climbing to the top.

There followed a long, easy descent to the road at Muhlthal. On the way I passed the ruins of the Grand Arnsbourg, another castle improbable perched on a sandstone pinnacle

Public access to this castle is prohibited because it is unstable. There are meant to be staircases cut into the rock for access.

In the valley I walked through the garden of a Michelin starred restaurant (closed, just as well, I had further to walk today)

Further along, the river is diverted into pools from where the restaurant gets its freshwater fish.

The last few kilometres of the day involved a climb up to the Col of Baerenberg. The walk was easy, through forest as usual. Near the top there was a triangular stone marking the tripoint between three dépatments

This was set up in 1758. I have seen several other stones the last few days and I guess these were boundary posts as well,

I was meant to spend the night in Lichtenberg but couldn’t find any accommodation, this was a pity because there is a restored castle there with a historical exhibition which is meant to be very good. Instead I had a three kilometre road walk to Reipertswiller, the next village in the valley. I don’t think it was my incompetence, I met a couple from Luxembourg this morning who were continuing further down the trail to find a bed for the night.

I have met a few people walking GR53, there are two women staying in the hotel tonight, I saw them climbing out of Niederbrunn this morning. Unfortunately my German and their English wasn’t good enough to work out how far they are walking. I met a German and French couple yesterday, conversing in English as their common language. They only had four days off work so were travelling home today.

At the entrance to Reipertswiller there was a bilingual road sign

Rue du Moulin is French for road of the windmill but windmill in German is “windmühle.” There is an old Alsatian language called Elsässisch which has undergone a recent revival so maybe “miehlwaj” is Elsässisch for “windmill way”.

Distance walked 23.4km 14.5 miles

In the past every French village seemed to have its own boulangerie. As I was walking back to where GR53 crosses the main road through village a van stopped by the side of the road, hooted and people came out of their houses to buy bread. It then drive a couple of hundred yards down the road and the same scenario happened again. Boulangerie on wheels.

There were a number of traditional half timbered Alsatian houses along the road.

Obersteinbach is set in a fairly wide valley. I left the road and followed a path through fields. As I crossed the river there was, what I took to be, an old laundry similar to those I saw in Spain on the Camino

The path entered the forest and climbed steeply through the trees. In England forest paths tend to follow the Forestry Commission tracks but here they take a more direct line up the mountain. The paths are mostly quite narrow and as the trees are more widely spaced, there is undergrowth and the sun shines through giving a dappled effect. This makes for very pleasant walking, even though the views are infrequent.

After a stiff climb I reached the Col de Wittschoessel where the path levelled out for about 500 metres. I then started climbing again, often steeply, over several more cols. After about 4 km I descended to the col des deux chateaux.

I arrived at the old Windstein castle first. This has a similar chequered history to the castles that I have described before, having been destroyed and rebuilt several times until its final destruction in the wars against Louis XVI at the end of the 18th century. From the base, I could only see the sandstone pillar, which is a popular rock climbing site,but apparently you can climb a stone staircase cut into the rock to see remnants of some of the walls.

The house at the front is private but there were good views over the mountains from its gates.

After the Col the path winds upwards to the new Windstein castle. Similar to the other castles it was built in the 13th century but it was used and modernised for a few hundred years. It was also destroyed in the 17th century.

I now had a long descent down to the Schwarzbach valley. I crossed the river and then had to regain all the height that I had just lost. By now I was tired. The initial part of the ascent was gradual but there was a steep section approaching the Col de Borneburg. There was then a gentle gradient up to the Col de la Liese where the Club Vosgien have a refuge. Outside the building there was a sculpture featuring climbers on a mountain

From here I had a final climb up to the top of Grand Wintersberg (581m). There is a tower on top built in the late 19th century.

There is a spiral staircase inside that leads up to the viewing platform which lies above the level of the trees. I was far too tired to climb this so I started the long descent to Niederbronn-les-Bains.

I ordered a three course dinner. The duck starter was huge: smooth and rough duck pate, duck spring rolls, smoked duck, a confit duck tartlet and salad. I thought I had made a mistake and ordered two mains but my bill confirmed a starter and main course. I had to forgo pudding.

Distance walked: 26km / 16 miles

I was only meant to walk about 20km today but I took detours to see some of the castle ruins and then missed a turn in the woods.

I set off up a quiet road from Petit-Wingen. After a few hundred yards I met two men that had left the station with me yesterday. I thought they were planning to walk further as they left Wissembourg straight away rather than look round the town.

A few hundred yards later I missed the turn. I realised I had gone wrong after a hundred metres or so and, after consulting the map, retraced my steps to take a path that ran alongside a small stream through woodland. The path was almost flat until I reached a small étang (lake).

The path then crossed the road that I had been walking along earlier and then I started to climb fairly steeply through woodland. At this point I was within 500 metres of the German border and my phone was receiving signal from a German mast.

Eventually the path levelled off and after 4km I reaches the Col de Litschhof where there was a good view across forest towards the crag of Fleckenstein castle. You can see the typical tree covered hills of the Vosges in the distance.

I left the Col by climbing steeply through more forest to reach the Col de Schlossberg after a further kilometre. As you will see, the names are often a mixture of French and German, reflecting the turbulent history of the region.

At the col I took my first deliberate detour to climb uphill to reach a ridge and the ruins of Loewenstein and Hohenbourg castles.

There is no much left of Loewenstein castle, apart from the crag it was built upon

I climbed up to the viewing platform, the views were spectacular

Like many Alsace castles, the Loewenstein castle was built in the twelfth century but was not very important. It was eventually taken over by robber brigands. It was destroyed in the mid 14th century.

I walked along the short ridge to Hohenburg castle, which was more impressive.

Assuming the hills were as heavily wooded as they are now it is difficult to see how lookouts could see troops approaching. Maybe they were used as bases to send out foot patrols. One website says they were used for protection of the lord of the region and as an administrative centre but there were uncomfortable to live in and most had been abandoned or taken over by robber-knights by the 14th century.

I returned to GR5 and descended from the col to reach the ticket office and cafe at the entrance to Fleckenstein castle. As you could see from the earlier photograph, this is also situated on a crag

This castle had a better history than some of the others. The Fleckenstein family were very powerful and lived here from the 12th century, adding to and modifying the castle. It was destroyed by the French in the late 17th century.

I now made my navigation error. I left the castle and came to a split n the path. I could not see the GR sign (a red rectangle in the Vosges). I guessed wrong and, too stubborn to turn back, followed the path for 2km in the wrong direction. I then tried to descend to the road through pathless forest but after about a quarter of an hour I came to a 5 metre vertical drop to the road. I turned back. Eventually I rejoined GR53

I was now very tired but I had to cross the Col de Hichtenbach and the associated mountain to get to Obersteinbach. I set off uphill and after 5km and 150 metres of height gain I arrived at the Col. On the way I passed Froensbourg castle,also built on a stone pinnacle.

How on earth did the masons build on these pinnacles without modern technology. This castle had a similar history to the others except the Fleckenstein family rebuilt it in the late 15th century it was destroyed by the French 200 years later.

After the Col I continued to climb and reached a series of sandstone pinnacles called the Zigeunerfels.

There is a metal ladder to the top. I didn’t attempt it!

After a further kilometre I came to my last castle of the day, the castle of Wasigenstein. There are over 60 castles in Alsace, most built by the regional lords in the 12 century. They were often taken over by robber knights and eventually destroyed. I will see more on my traverse of the Vosges.

It was now time to descend and I was grateful to get to Obersteinbach. There was one last drama. I arrived at my B and B but the owner only spoke German. Eventually she found someone that could speak French and a little English. Apparently I had been transferred to the hotel across the road, which was fine for me as I had a nice room and the hotel had a nice restaurant.

Distance walked: 13.6km; 8.5 miles

I only had a short walk today which gave me time to get up leisurely, get the train from Strasbourg and spend the second half of the morning wandering round Wissembourg, which is a town that lies just inside the border between France and Germany.

The history of the border is complex, to put it mildly. Remains of Celtic occupation have been found near Wissembourg but I couldn’t find out if the Romans ventured as far as this corner of France. It seems that, following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Alsace, the region in which most of the Vosges range lies, has been held in dispute by the French and the Germans from the 5th century until the end of the Second World War in 1945. In the Middle Ages neither had control and autonomous city states fought over the area. It was even involved in the Spanish Wars of Succession (which actually involved most of Western Europe). If you are interested then you will have to look it up but it has stimulated me to read some European history when I get home.

The consequence of this instability is that, for the next two weeks, I will come across the remnants of the various wars, which will make it a more sobering walk than usual.

A group of Benedictine monks founded an abbey in what is now Wissembourg and the town grew up around it. The monastery became disused in the 16th century and the church became the local church. It was very impressive. There are several medieval wall paintings, although I do not know if these are originals or whether they have been restored

The town became a walled town in the Middle Ages and the remains of the ramparts are still in place.

The old town itself is very attractive.

I had some lunch and began GR53. Adjacent to the church there was a sign telling me that I was on a Camino. It seems wherever I walk in Europe these days I come across one.

Only 2416km to go. Remember, in medieval times a would-be pilgrim had to walk (or ride) home as well. Not rail network or airports for him!

My route took me through a residential part of town but I soon turned off on a track that climbed on the edge of woodland. I had views towards the heavily wooded foothills to the north and back towards Wissembourg. To the south I could see over the Bas-rhin with the hills of the Black Forest in the distance. No guesses to what the ear worm was at this point.

I passed vineyards, I believe they are Riesling grapes around here, although Alsace is also well known for its Pinot Gris and gerutztraminer wines.

A series of defensive lines, the Lignes de la Lauter, were built here in the Spanish wars of Succession. Sometimes they were obvious, at other times hard to visualise (for the amateur). The earthworks of an old fort, the Redoute of Marshall du Bourg, could clearly be seen. An information board placed by the Club Vosgien, whose volunteers maintain the path and waymarking, gave the history of the tower. It had a variety of uses over the centuries but was destroyed by the retreating Germans at the ene of World War II.

After 5km of continuous but easy ascent I arrived at the butte of Scherhol, my first summit with a modest height of 508metres. I was surrounded by trees so no views were to be had. There was a shelter here but I doubt it would make for a comfortable night’s sleep

I now had a long descent to the village of Climbach followed by an easy walk over a low hill to the hamlet of Petit-Wingen where my B and B was for the night.

After much deliberation I decided not to walk from Custines to the Vosges. It didn’t look very interesting and accommodation is scarce. Instead I decided to walk the Vosges range from north to south, start in at Wissenbourg on GR53 and joining GR5 near the Col du Donon.

I travelled to London on Tuesday and spent a very pleasant evening with my daughter, her (new!) fiancé and my sister and her husband. Today I took the mid-morning Eurostar and arrived in Paris for a late light lunch. It took less than 2 hours on the TGV to get to Strasbourg, a distance of 500km.

From the train, I could see the terrain which GR5 crosses after Custines. It was a pleasant enough pastoral landscape but not particularly interesting to walk through. I could see the line of 5he Vosges mountains and I was happy I had made the right decision. If I ever get to Nice on foot I can always go back and walk the missing segment.

I had the evening to wander round the old part of Strasbourg and admire its gothic cathedral. There had been some sort of fun run as there were a lot of people in running gear chatting in front of the cathedral. By nightfall it had become quiet.

I had a brief walk through the old city and stopped to watch a jazz band playing outside the palace. There were a lot of musicians, when does a band become an orchestra?

Tomorrow I will start the walk by taking the train to Wissembourg which is said to be a very pretty town so I shall wander round before a half day’s walk to Winden.