Wine Tour Day 10 - Vosges

Today began with a leisurely and wonderfully simple farmhouse breakfast of juice, coffee, fresh crusty bread and a selection of home made ‘confitures’. Delicious.

Then, armed with a bundle of maps, French guide books and a confident optimism we set off in the car in search of an “easy” mountain walk.

I am no great believer in Gods, much less so organised religions depictions of God but I am not foolish enough to think there is no power greater than man at work in the world around us. As you climb higher into any mountain range in the world on a clear day, it’s easy to imagine why Monasteries so often sited themselves atop mountains. It cannot fail to make you feel closer to “the creator” whomever or whatever that may be and be thankful for their generosity. The Vosges Mountains are truly beautiful and majestic. They sweep all around you in huge rolling green peaks and valleys and just take your breath away.

In fact they did quite literally take my breath away as Mandy and I found our designated walk and huffed and puffed and panted our way up and over one peak to the top of another before making our way down and across to a precariously located farmhouse that was surprisingly busy and served ice cold beer for thirsty hikers. “Hiking” was really stretching the description of what we were doing - sweaty but determined ‘plodding’ would be closer but we had a beer anyway before setting back off through wooded slopes back to where we had left our car, which was slowly becoming a mobile furnace in the Midday sun.

After the exertions of our walk and 10 minutes with the car’s air con whacked up to the max we decided to explore a little in the car by travelling down the valley to one of the mountain lakes marked on our map. Needless to say that was loads of entertainment for me as I negotiated hairpin bend after hairpin bend, imagining I was one of the Top Gear crew and trying not to knock the knackered looking cyclists off, who were labouring impressively up the narrow winding roads, into the yawning ravines that bordered the route. I don’t think I got any, but honestly I was having too much fun to stop and check.

When we reached the “lake” however we were disappointed and slightly shocked to find the lake bed was completely dried up. The 40-plus temperatures France experienced only a couple of months ago had obviously taken their toll. So we sat by the mud and shale and ate a melancholy ice cream instead.

Dinner tonight was something of a challenge. Those places that don’t close on a Tuesday in the Alsace seem to close on Monday AND Tuesday so we had a few fruitless journeys to various mountain farmhouse places that were either desolate or were just closing up for the day. After our third strike-out we instead chose to make the huge 10 km trip to the nearest largish town, Munster. We quickly found a small courtyard bar/restaurant that sold simple local food and each elected to have a local speciality which was “Spaetzle avec Munster et lardons” - essentially your Alsation Mac’ n’ cheese with bacon bits. Tasty though it was, light and airy it was not. I think it may still be adhering to the inside of my ribs by the time we return to English soil tomorrow night.

Additionally there was the entertaining fact that the bowls it was served in were apparently super-heated in 3 atmospheres pressure then lightly blowtorched before being brought to the table and plonked down with a pleasant smile and not a word of warning of the fact that safe-handling actually required a pair of asbestos mitts and a welder’s mask. I found this out however when I tried to “re-centre” the bowl in the middle of the “safety plate” it was sat on. It was off-centre you see which is... well... it’s wrong, that’s all. The end of my middle finger fairly sizzled as I prodded the side of the bowl and I yelped in pain. I did have the presence of mind to plunge my finger instantly into the icy beer that accompanied it but the damage was done and my finger will now be pulsating like ET’s for a couple of days I think.

Tonight, we’ve returned to our rustic log-cabin guest house to rest and get ready for the long drive home tomorrow. Our hosts are out at the moment but we’re hoping to head downstairs later for a final glass of wine to round off our trip.

It’s been a sheer delight and I can thoroughly recommend the Alsace region to anyone who is considering travelling this way. The people are lovely, the wines are lovely, the countryside is beautiful and the food is... well it’s fortifying and tasty (if you can cope with that amount of meat and stodge).

Not sure when I’ll blip next. This has been as much a holiday journal as anything and I don’t think my photography skills yet extend to making everyday subjects seem appealing or interesting. I’ve been spoiled by having good material to work with. However I’ve had the news that a small inheritance is landing in a few days time so I’m going to be able to kit myself out with proper equipment very shortly and plunge into a happy maelstrom of nerdery (new word - just made it up). With help from a good friend and plenty of reading I’ve already selected my body and a good lens. I’m very excited!!

Thank you to anyone who has taken the trouble to give stars or leave kind comments. They have been truly appreciated. Hopefully I’ll add some more of my amateur but enthusiastic snaps and accompanying rambling doggerel soon.