Alsace: castles and yet more castles

As we drove north through Alsace, the scenery changed.  Towns and villages were fewer and further between.  Although there were still many half-timbered houses, they were less colourful than those in the south. But there were many more castles….

Sunday July 15.  During the night there was a heavy thunderstorm. We’d had four days of sunshine in Alsace, and thought maybe our luck had run out.  But when we woke, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there was no sign of the rain.  This was another important day for France!  Even if we’d forgotten, we would have been reminded by the hair ribbons and face paint of the waitress who delivered our breakfast.

It was an eventful day for us too.  Our first stop was Haut-Koeningsbourg, a medieval castle that was destroyed and rebuilt in the early 20th century: it was impressive and picturesque.

But our next stop, Mont Sainte-Odile, was disappointing. It is a pilgrimage centre, with three chapels built on a rock.  It looked good in the guidebook photo, but you could only get that shot from a distance.  Two of the chapels had mosaics which were modern, but looked Byzantine.  The gardens were beautiful and the views were good.

We’d discovered that there was a World War 2 concentration camp nearby – we hadn’t realised there was one in France, although Alsace at the time was part of Germany. While we were on our way the rain came down, and when we parked there was thunder and lightning (frighteningly close), plus huge hailstones.  We sat in the car for 35 mins – we could not face getting out, or driving on.  Finally the rain eased a bit, and we made a run for it.  We saw the introductory film about Le Struthof, and did a very quick tour of the site.

Then it was on to Saverne.  The journey took longer than we had expected.  We’d booked an apartment for two nights, and the owner had asked us to arrive early, as he wanted to watch the World Cup final.  We reached the town soon after 4, but had problems finding the place. We abandoned the car and searched on foot.  When we found the apartment, there was no sign of life.  We phoned the owner, who said he was on holiday; his father would come to let us in – perhaps after the match?  But we did not want to wait outside for two hours, especially as it looked like more rain.

We protested, and soon after the father arrived. We then had to go and find the car, which was a challenge.  We went out again at 6.50, just as huge cheers went up – France had won!  Crowds of people had watched the match on a giant screen in the main square.  We had drinks in a small bar, where we watched men replacing the window, which had been removed to make way for a large TV.  Then we went in search of something to eat.  This was not an easy task, as most places were closed, but finally we found a place which rejoiced in the name of ‘Funny Burger’.  It was a kind of fast food joint, but being French the food was decent quality, and accompanied by plenty of wine.  While eating we saw (and heard) people driving by, hooting and waving large flags.

 

Monday 16: Saverne itself is a working town, rather than a tourist town, although there are a few interesting things to see.  But we spent most of the day up in the hills above the town, in order to visit Haut Barr, a ruined castle. The walk there was pleasant, and quite easy. Although ruined, the castle was more extensive than we had imagined, and very picturesque.

Then we did the short walk to another chateau, Geroldseck, more ruined but still a fair bit to see. And finally we visited the ‘ancient telegraph tower’.  The enthusiastic guy there talked us through the development of the system, and explained how it worked.  It was quite interesting to learn about what was the latest communications technology in 1794!

On our return to Saverne we looked round the town, including some old cloisters, the town hall and an impressive synagogue with an onion dome.

Tuesday 17: En route from Saverne to Wissenbourg, we visited three castles.  The first was Lichtenberg, which we found disappointing – the modern additions spoiled the overall look.

In our guidebook, there was a section on ‘The chateaux of the North Vosges’, which described four castles.  We were not sure whether they were linked, close together (joined by a walking route?) or far apart.  We learned that there are many red sandstone castles scattered throughout the North Vosges (our four were just a sample) but they are not always easy to find.

We went first to Wasenbourg, and discovered there was a 50-minute walk to the castle ruins.  But the walk was pleasant, and the ruins were picturesque, well worth seeing.

After that we had time for one more castle, and decided to head for Windstein, as we’d already seen signs to it.  But en route there was a diversion, and we ended up driving miles, with no idea where we were. Rather than completing a very large circuit to get back to Windstein, we decided it would be easier to go to Wasigenstein instead.  In this case it was a fairly short walk to the castle ruins.  Again, very picturesque, and more extensive than we had expected.

We drove on to Wissembourg, where we stayed overnight.

Wednesday 18: We first explored Wissembourg, by following the river around the ramparts, and then walking through the old town.

Then we drove to Strasbourg, and checked into the hotel where we’d stayed last week. Ian returned the car to the airport, while Sandie did some washing at a nearby laundrette.  Later we explored the Petite France area of the city. After dark we went to see the cathedral and other places lit up.  We watched a sound & light show from the Covered Bridges.  We didn’t have a clue what it was about (not because of the language – there wasn’t any) but it was quite entertaining.

Thursday 19: This morning’s sightseeing focused on the cathedral.  We admired the stained glass, the Pillar of Angels, the ornate organ loft and (especially) the Astronomical Clock, though sadly this was encased in scaffolding, making photography difficult. We climbed more than 300 steps to enjoy great views of the city from the ‘platform’ just below the tower.

And we returned to the cathedral (ticket-only entry) to see a film about the clock, followed by a brief demonstration of two of its features.

This afternoon we did a 75-minute boat trip around the city. We saw Petite France, and other places we’d already visited, from a different angle. And we saw some areas we’d not managed to see on foot, including the European area, where there are several important buildings such as the Parliament and the Court of Human Rights. Very impressive – but sad to think that the UK will not be represented in the European Parliament for much longer.