E5 Days 71-75

Wednesday, May 15th

Baguette in the postbox

• We wake up to the sound of rain pelting down on the sphere – a promising start to the day.
• Breakfast in the hope that the rain will stop soon (it hasn’t) and then we say goodbye to the cool sphere and set off.

• The route takes us deeper into the mountainous landscape of the Vosges – albeit initially on rather wide forest tracks and small roads.
• Thick clouds hang in the sky all day – only from time to time we can still see some of the view of the wooded, hilly landscape and even catch a glimpse of the Ballon d’Alsace in the distance, over which our route will take us tomorrow.

• At one point we cross a pass road with a very deserted-looking hotel and gite, neither of which we have found on any platform (and we know them all!) and which probably offer more material for horror films than accommodation.

• We come along a beautiful lake that totally reminds me of Sweden – in the middle of the forest with a little cottage.
• After a short break in the rain, a real downpour suddenly hits us and we use a refuge on the way as a shelter and have lunch there straight away – it’s great that it has just turned up.

• It is rudimentarily furnished and simple, but there is even a stove for warmth and you could even spend the night here – in an emergency.
• Shortly afterwards, we reach the outskirts of the ‘village’, where the auberge we are staying in today is located, and discover a letterbox there – with a baguette inside! Great service!

• We find a flock of sheep that even come to cheer us on – mega!
• Shortly before we reach the Auberge Grammont, we are surprised by another heavy downpour, so that we arrive dripping wet and are pleased to realise that the inn caters for hikers, as there is even a drying room where we hang up all our clothes, which are actually dried over the open fire the next day!

• It’s raining cats and dogs all evening, which we are delighted to watch from the window of our heated room.
• Dinner is also served and we eat alongside a huge group who arrive later and are very chatty – no wonder with the amount of wine ordered 😉

Thursday, May 16th

Dumb and D’Amber and the Ballon d’Alsace

• We set off at half past nine – surprisingly early – and that after our hearty breakfast.

• We pay and say goodbye and set off, as quickly as possible, to escape the rain, which is due to get heavier at 3 o’clock.
• This works out really well when I change into my older hiking boots (from the new ones, which are still painful to walk in), and we literally sprint up the mountain.

• Past the Chalet de Longeligoutte, which we thankfully don’t need as it’s not raining at the moment.
• At first the paths are wider, but soon they become smaller and stonier, but also very steep.
• The views are really worthwhile – and even better than yesterday – because we are higher up, but also because it is less cloudy.
• At one point, we are standing at a crossroads wondering which way to go and I keep looking confused until Matthäus says: ‘We should probably just follow the arrow.’ ‘The arrow?’ I ask, ’which arrow?’ And Matthäus looks at me blankly and silently points to the forest floor, where a huge arrow has been made out of sticks. Oh I see, THAT arrow.

• Our first summit – a pre-summit of the Ballon d’Alsace – is the Ballon de Servance, which is even above the tree line! Amazing – we’ve never been this high on the E5 until now.

• The Refuge Luthier is also located here – my favourite refuge in the area.
• There is a stove, a mega view from the large windows and cosy seating. =)

• We eat our sandwich from the bakery on a nice big table outside (it’s still not raining!) and enjoy the view and the peace and quiet.
• We take some really small paths up to the Ballon d’Alsace, a hiking hotspot.

• There are lots of maps here and an armada of hiking trails lead over the summit – including the E2, which meets the E5 here! The E2, we learn, leads from the Netherlands to Nice.

• At the top is a huge plateau over which we hike and where we find an overview board showing which places are how far away and in which direction – and we even recognise some of the places!

• From here, it’s further than we thought to our accommodation and our route takes us through the middle of a ski resort, which immediately makes me want to go skiing and gives me an earworm.

• We continue along small paths to the Auberge Fluhr, which has a much more mountain hut flair and cosiness than our previous accommodation (Auberge Grammont).

• The highlight is probably the beer – from a small craft beer brewery with the ingenious name ‘Dumb & D’Amber’ – mega!

Friday, May 17th

Crazy Descent stage

• I can’t get going again today – mainly because the fog is already hanging outside.

• We set off in the worst of the fog and it quickly becomes apparent that today is not my day..
• To make matters worse, we get lost in the fog right at the start and end up behind some ski slope barrier, but fortunately we find our way back to the right path.

• We soon reach the forest, through which we descend and which is admittedly beautiful – the fog slowly lifts, making the light forest look very pretty!
• We pass a few refuges again, including the Baerenkopf Refuge, which looks very closed, and the Neuberg Refuge, where we take our lunch break.

• We continue on the endless descent through the forest, which seems to have no end.
• Finally, we reach a village and leave the Vosges behind us and reach civilisation again, but even here the path drags on forever – and a glance at my watch reveals that we still have a few kilometres to go.

• The beautiful path leads along the river and even the sun shows up, but my mood doesn’t improve.
• We see Scottish Highland cattle and a stork’s nest – with a stork!

• There are also great views back to the Vosges mountains from time to time, where the Ballon d’Alsace rises into the air – beautiful!
• In between, there are overgrown paths, mud and fallen trees.

• As the sun begins to set, we reach a campsite and see – our shadows are already very long!

• The path continues towards the lake, where it gets very muddy again, which I immediately complain about loudly – rightly so, as it turns out, because shortly afterwards I slip and take a bath in the mud.
• As a result, I’m covered in mud from top to bottom, but surprisingly, Matthäus happily notes, I’m in a better mood. It seems like every now and then you need a ‘down to earth’ moment like this to see things more clearly and take things with a little more humour…
• Finally, there’s another highlight: the path leads along a really beautiful lake, which looks particularly stunning now in the light of the setting sun.

• Wow!
• Nevertheless, we are delighted when we finally reach our hotel for the day and fall asleep!

Saturday, May 18th

Collecting snails prohibited!

• We made elderberry juice (the elder is in bloom!), which we are taking with us today as provisions – deliciously tasty!

• We set off through Burnhaupt and out along country lanes and small roads that lead us through the flat plain.
• It’s unspectacular – both in terms of the landscape and the route, only here and there you pass through small, pleasant villages.

• I have another reason to be grumpy, because the route leads mostly over unwooded fields – and so we are exposed to the sun beating down on us all day.
• We pass through a town where a funfair is being set up (or perhaps dismantled) – lorries and trailers with fairground stalls and grotesque figures are everywhere.

• We also see a miniature Eiffel Tower and are reminded of ‘Despicable Me’.
• In a slightly larger town along the way, Illfurth, we pop into the supermarket and pick up some fresh strawberries and I treat myself to an iced coffee, which we both enjoy straight away – delicious!
• Shortly after the village we have a great view of Illfurth and in the background you can see the Ballon d’Alsace rising up – mega!

• There are also elder trees in bloom everywhere, so we take another one with us to make elderberry juice – it has proved its worth as a refreshment along the way.
• At one point, our path leads through the forest and we see a curious sign prohibiting snail collecting.

• ‘You only need a sign like that in France!’ says Matthäus.
• The place names have been more German than French for a while now, and so has the name of the village where we are staying: Wahlbach
• The receptionist at the hotel also greets us in German.
• The hotel is in a great half-timbered house, where we have a room with a balcony, on which we chill out in the afternoon and then have dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we realise that the cuisine is also more German than French.

Sunday, May 19th – Pentecost

Au Revoir France!

• We set off on our last stage in France in the most beautiful sunshine, after we have eaten four pain au chocolats at breakfast to say goodbye to France.

• The route takes us along beautifully wide and relaxed country lanes and through some small Alsatian villages, all of which have some lovely half-timbered houses, some of which are for sale, we notice.

• The sun beats down mercilessly from the sky and we are already back on dirt tracks – without trees or anything else to provide shade.
• We are so happy about every cloud that moves in front of the sun that we think back to the Texas State Fair and the pig race (read more about it here).
• We finish listening to ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ – high time, because this morning we got part 5, which at 29 hours is clearly the longest.
• In a small wood, through which we walk extra slowly to fully savour the shade, we meet two Sunday hikers who look at us and then say: ‘Yes, that way is Rome!’ We laugh, but our destination isn’t that far away from Rome truly…
• We also have a funny encounter in a small village: someone drives his car into the street we’re coming from (a dead end, of course, which ends in a dirt track), rolls down the window (yes, the car is that old) and asks us where we’re going. ‘Basel’ we reply and he asks: “Aha and where is St. Louis?” or at least that’s what we understand – we look confused for a moment and I ask him if he means the St. Louis with the Gateway Arch, because that’s in the USA and he still has a long journey ahead, especially if he’s travelling by car… The confusion doesn’t clear up in the end and he drives on just as confused as we go on…

• The hiking trail is marked with a squiggle O, which inspires us to discuss whether a circle is one-dimensional – we agree on ‘It has no surface’ and ‘In the right topology, yes’ (an argument that could probably be used to make quite a few things one-dimensional).
• Basel is getting closer, as you can see from the increasing number of pedestrians/cyclists, but also from the aeroplanes flying lower and lower overhead – Yeah!

• We cross the border on a cycle path and it is totally unspectacular – only a sad border sign indicates that we are leaving France and entering Switzerland – very convenient, thank you EU!

• Through a forest, where the paths are naturally very busy now on a Sunday afternoon and so close to Basel, we reach the town on the Rhine where, to my delight, we pass a café with chairs outside, where we treat ourselves to a coffee and a lemonade.

• Checking in again in person and a bit complicated, but finally Violetta/ S.X. writes ‘Alex is on his way.’ (? Who is Alex?)
• Doing laundry, chilling in the flat, watching climbing, eating, chatting with Matthäus’s parents and Christoph at the end – nice, cosy, relaxed.