February Outings

View on Schönau

Whenever we got a window with the slightest promise of fair weather we stepped out of our den and went hiking with Hilda. Sometimes we still got rained or snowed on, but the white stuff didn't stick.

We ventured out to the southwesterly part of the Rhineland-Palatinate region adjacent of the French border and marvelled at the mystic sandstone formations carved by weather and time or man.

View on Fischbach

Once upon a time, from stone age over Celts to the middle ages people built their homes on and into those rocks.

Castle Wasigenstein

And then we time-travelled from the dark ages to another dark chapter in contemporary times: The Cold War. Nearby Fischbach lies Area 1, a former NATO Cold War special weapons depot, once housing nuclear and other weapons. It was heavily fortified in the 1970s-80s, stored various arms, and was part of the Fischbach Ordnance Depot. After the Cold War, weapons were moved to Ramstein, the site was handed back to Germany in the mid-1990s, and extensive demolition and reforestation followed. Today, only relics remain and the area is partly protected as a historic site.

Loire river valley, a 1000 km journey from source to estuary

Day 6

We crossed the Clariette vineyards but didn't get to see much due to heavy rainfall. On arrival at Mont Gerbier de Jong (1551m) in the Ardèche mountain range the wet stuff stopped falling long enough to allow for a little walk to the source of the Loire. The river is 1006 kms long and flows from the Massif Central mountains going north west, then continuing in south-westerly direction, and is the largest river in France which empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Continental divide between Atlantic and Mediterranean Ocean

Mont Gerbier de Jong

Loire source

Day 7

The day was spent driving through the Haute Loire region and learning about the Roannaise and Forex vineyards. So much wine, so little time. We kept wondering, why there wasn't any significant boat traffic on the Loire but soon found out that France is riddled with artificial canals and engineered water ways in order to gain independence from weather, river stages and other obstacles. At Digoin we found one of many canal bridges.

Day 8

One of many moated castles awaited. At the beginning we followed every road sign promising sightseeing, and walked through ancient village cores in Decize, Sagonne, Bourges and Nevers.

Sagonne

Bourges

Nevers

Day 9

The weather had significantly improved, we are back to gossamer. Again we were surprised by the abundance of moated castles. We skipped visiting Orleans as traffic turned out to be chaotic due to construction, deviations and crazy drivers. Not something we liked to deal with during vacation. The castles were getting even more spectacular and we were often in awe, not getting enough of it (yet).

Day 10

More of the same but different. A castle built over a river had been a nice variation. But to be honest, we were getting castled-out a bit. 

Chambord

Cheverny

Chenonceau

Day 11

Visited an abbey instead, but wait! An underground castle? That sounded interesting, so we gave it a shot. Very cool! And the weather is still playing along nicely.

Islette

French cake variations in Langeais

The kings' abbey Fontevraud

Underground castle Brèze

Day 12

We found a castle ruin directly at the Loire (one of the few actually, most castles are far away from the river), and the French version of Downton Abbey. Then we took a detour in order to avoid getting too close to Nantes, where traffic was heavy.

Serrant

Italian Flair in Clisson. The village got destroyed in the 18th century and the builders reconstructed the town with Tuscany style in mind.  

Day 13

After a bit more than 1000 kms we arrived at the river mouth of Loire in St. Nazaire. The Atlantic ocean looked quite peacefully that day. We met with the giant sea serpent (sculpture by Huang Yong Ping) on the beach of Mindin. The skeleton only appears on low tide. Did we get away from the monster? What happened next?

(Diary excerpt Sep 5 to Sep 12)