Eguisheim to Husserain-les-Chateau (circular walk) – 12th October

Today we left the bikes behind and set off on our pieds. Boots laced up, rucksack full of food, drink and coats stuffed inside, off we set into some pretty moody looking skies hanging over the Vosges Mountains. The Alsace is the second driest place in France according to most of the reports I have read. Today was no exception, despite the threatening looking skies we managed to stay dry all day.

The walk was about 6 miles incorporating – yes you guessed, vineyards and pretty villages along with a smattering of woods. Beautiful, this is such a peaceful area despite the obvious tourism, once again I would say that I am sure it would be heaving at the height of the season. Following the map, my GPS and some obvious French signposting we wound our way up to the hillside, the view of the Rhine basin opening behind as we climbed, sunlight drifting across the land lighting up the vines with a golden glow.

Just before midday we reached the village of Husserain-les-Chateau and managed to find a hotel above the village in the woods for our morning caffeine hit along with a ‘tarte du jour’ – I keep saying this “what’s not to like?”
This sleepy village has some wealth about it – plenty of fairly ‘newish’ properties with some magnificent views. It is well within commuting distance of both Colmar and Strasbourg, also we are pretty sure that many of the vintners earn a decent living here. If our friends back in our village can grow grapes and get about 350 bottles a year, imagine what some of these boys and girls are producing – eye watering. Prices for the Alsace wine bought direct from the producers range from £7 – £20 depending on quality, year of produce, etc.

What struck us was just how clean it all is, villagers take great pride in their streets and their flowers, obviously vying for ‘best floral village’ and other such awards. A real pleasure to cycle and walk around, we would not hesitate to come back to this area again and spend more time here.

We are off on our return journey tomorrow – we are taking 4 days to get back to the UK so again taking it as part of our holiday, not wanting to rush through this wonderful country. We have some Aires earmarked so let’s see what the next few days will bring. Goodbye Alsace!