A Ramble Through the Countryside

Sunday we packed into the cars with the intent of driving to a few castles and chateau.  Strangely, the tourist maps that made it seem all the castles were very close together somehow neglected to mention the twisty ass mountain roads through deep valleys that pretty much hide everything from view.

So our castle hopping turned into an entertaining afternoon of driving through the forested foothills of the Massif Vosges.

The first little town we stopped in was Niedermorschwihr, a town that so dripped with charm we had to stop and take a few pictures(and figgure where the hell we were on the map).  One of dozens of villages with fewer than 500 residents dotting the hillsides watching over their vineyards.  After a few pics, we piled back into the cars and off we went to explore.

Vineyards surrounded the village all the way down to the valley floor.

Leaving Niedermorschwihr, we headed up the mountains to a summit town called Trois Epis.  No real reason, just sounded like there might be something interesting up the hill.  What a drive that was.  Somehow an incredibly twisty mountain road with many roadside shrines and tire marks makes for a tense drive through the dark woods.  Safely at the top we enjoyed a splendid view of the surrounding valleys and adjoining mountains.

Small church in Tois Epis

Lunch seemed to be in order so we settled into Hotel le Turckheim Croix d'Or,  a little Alpine lodge feeling hotel with a dining room that presented views out to the valleys.  After a very satisfying lunch, our incredibly patient waitress brought desserts to the table, complete with a candle and "Happy Birthday" wish for Gary.  Mom snuck that in somehow...

A view to the West

The gang at a long leisurely lunch.

From Trois Epis, we finally fired up the GPS(Im still scarred from our experience in Normandy with our Garmin) and got the route to the closest castle.  As it was Sunday afternoon, we were concerned about things closing early so some direction was in order.

Yep, still snow on the hills here!

Garmin finally got settled in and we found that Chateau du Hohlandsbourg was just 3.4 miles away.  Off we went, back down the scary ass forest roads across one valley and up the side of the next.

The Chateau from above.  I need to buy a drone...

Chateau du Hohlandsbourg is a damn impressive structure.  Constructed in the early 1200's it sits atop a massive stone outcrop 200 foot above the valley floor that strikes me as particularly nasty to think about attacking. While small and a tad architecturally underwhelming, it did offer us a view all the way from one side of the Rhine valley all the way over to Germany.  I'd guess that was exactly why they decided to build a major stronghold here, a clear view for miles in all directions.

From the top of the chateau, you can see Colmar in the middle distance all the way to the low hills of Germany!

If you want to attack the Chateau, you get to first fight up 2000 feet of rocky and timbered hillsides.  Have fun.

The upper keep, kinda got blown up in the 1600's.

Kelly is a studious Kelly.

Rain started to settle in, so we bailed back down the hill to the car park and rushed for home.  After a light supper of cheese, sausage, bread and dessert we wandered to bed early.

Monday is a day of exploring Colmar, assuming the rain clears off.

Another Deux Chevaux