Chatenois to Ribeauville: Day 149

A day of castles in the forested mountains of the Vosges.

As I was leaving Chatenois a few market stalls were setting up to sell cheese, fruit and vegetables. At the edge of town there were the remains of the town's walls and beyond them were the vineyards. A group of people of assorted ages and sizes were collecting ready to start picking grapes, some drinking take-away coffee, others chatting.

Soon I had climbed out of the vineyards into the forest following tracks and paths marked by the red rectangles of the GR5. The approach to Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg was particularly steep. Ahead of me was a large party of French ramblers. Moving slower than me and filling the path I had difficulty passing them. That I was moving faster at all was unexpected as I was not feeling energetic. After the final switchbacks I reached the castle and spotted a place selling coffee and cakes, I chose the "tarte aux myrtille" (blueberry tart) which I ate admiring the panorama over the Rhine valley below. I debated whether to visit the castle interior. Built of red sandstone the medieval castle was burnt and looted by Swedish forces in 1633. In the 19th century it was extensively restored to give the large castle visited by many people today. At the entrance gate a security man was checking bags and the thought of him completing a thorough search of my rucksack, together with a feeling that I had visited it many years before, made me decide to continue on my walk.

View over Rhine Valley from Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg.

Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg.

After continuing through the forest, and the village of Thannenkirch, I eventually reached my next castle, the Château Haut-Ribeaupierre, a ruin undergoing renovation work. A sign indicated access was not allowed. However there was an extensive view from the promontory on which it was built. After a steep, switchback path I reached Chateau St. Ulrich the second of three chateaux in the area. I briefly looked in but now the town of Ribeauville was spread out beneath me I was keen to continue. Steeply dropping, crossing outcrops of rock I made slow progress but eventually reached the edge of Ribeauville walking by the town's ancient walls. Unfortunately my campsite was at the other end and I was obliged to fortify myself with an ice cream to get there. Walking through this tourist town was no great hardship with it's old half timbered houses with coloured plaster panels.

View down to Ribeauville from Chateau St Ulrich. 

Street in Ribeauville.

Some 13 years earlier my wife and I stayed at this campsite. Its computer remembered us! I explained to the receptionist that I was not with my wife, then felt I had to clarify that actually I was still with my wife but that she was not with me on this trip. I was about to expand on the theme with an explanation but the bemused look from the receptionist made me decide against it. Lacking recent rain the ground at the campsite today was rock hard. I was struggling to get even one of my tent pegs into the earth. Fortunately the kind couple opposite lent me a rubber mallet to hammer them in.

Dinner was at one of the main restaurants on Ribeauville's main tourist drag. I tried the local speciality "choucroute", which is sauerkraut, served with sausage and a few types of pork. Bit filling.