After being away for such a long time during the first months of the year it was at least time for a short vacation during summer. Together with my lovely friend Paulina I planned to go for a multi-day hike. First we thought of some places in Southern Bavaria like Allgäu, before we came up with the idea to leave Germany for 5 days and visit our western neighbor France - specifically the Elsass/Alsace region. We both had been in Strasbourg before, because of our time studying together in Karlsruhe, but we never had the chance to see Colmar, which ended up to be our city to reach as final destination.
With this idea in mind we started to prepare ourselves since none of us ever did a hike including overnight stays outside. Especially the amount of luggage and the weight to carry for multiple kilometers during the day where an important topic. While I had to buy many things new apart from some things my Roommate gave me, Pauli was lucky to borrow multiple things of especially her boyfriend and her family.
Whilst I bought a Campingcooker and an airmstress new on my own, we discussed which tent to buy and decided to buy a light-weight one (ca. 1,5kg) which has only one layer and is not supposed to block heavy rain. Also I bought a new backpack with 40 Liters space.
Apart from preparing our packing list and ensuring we got everything, we also had to plan a route. While researching for some between Strasbourg and Colmar we found GR5 and Santiago Compostella passing by - both considered to be well signed and of medium complexity while crossing each other multiple times. We informed ourselves but did not prepare a fix plan.
Some days later it was time to start. Pauli starting from Trier and myself from Munich both had to get up early to reach Strasbourg, were we planned to meet. Our initial plan to stay in Strasbourg was quickly skipped and we jumped on the first train to Barr, after equipping us with some essentials at a small supermarket. Barr was a 40min train ride from Strasbourg and our starting point on the route of the long-distance trail GR5, which is heading from the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
Barr was already the first amazing impression of what Elsass will hold for us. Half-timbered, colorful houses, small rivers floating through the town centers, a calm vibe and everything surrounded by flourishing green vineyards. What you expect is what you get - at least in Elsass. We were astonished by the small town and enjoyed all those first impressions. After we soaked all of those in and stopped by the tiny tourist office to get a map and some recommendations, we headed out following the well signed path of GR5.
After stopping 4 km later in Andlau were we got some snacks (salad, fruits and coffeyoghurt) out of a shop and kept walking after some minutes break. Passing by Refuge du Gruckert we headed into the direction of Villé.
Refuge du Gruckert could have also been a great stop to camp and sleep, because it is a lonely house in the middle of the woods with a nice view where we also got to know two women who told us that they planned the tour EUCOR together with our friends of the student council of KIT in Karlsruhe.
Still we had the plan to get as close to Villé as possible. As soon as we got close by while the sun was starting to set already, we called an Auberge in a small town in the surrounding if they might host us with our tent. They told us about a location outside of town where it is supposed to be legal to camp. So we went there, since it was directly next to us and found a spot covered from two sides by some bushes. The spot seemed reasonable eventhough two beehives were set up around 50 meters away and when we arrived a small fox was hanging around there. After less then 5 minutes our tent was set up and we quickly decided not to cook anymore after this long day and exhausting 16km in barely half a day of hiking. After some protein bars and rice waffles we went to bed - being happy that we were already able to hike so many kilometers.
Everything felt comfortable until at 4:40am a loud noise was approaching our tent really fast. We realized loud grunting and hissing whil quick footsteps running towards our tent through the high grass. It passed us few meters away, turned around and came back. This happened multiple times before it got slower and was sniffing around our tent and turning to the bush around two meters next to us whilst a second noise was approaching us. We were fully awake, sitting in our tent, not knowing what to do to get rid of those two wild boars. This is what we basically did for the next one and a half hours until the sun was rising, one of them left on its own (as we've heard) and we were brave enough to open our tent and check the surrounding.
In the end there was non left, eventhough we never heard it leaving. Since this was eventhough the planned time for us to wake up and leave, we packed our stuff and headed to Villé.
After this exhausting, scaring night and another one hour hike we reached the small town. In the center we already found everything that you expect in a village in Elsass: a vin stub, a brasserie, a restaurant, a boucherie and a boulangerie. Everything looking quite local and no big chain around. The last mentioned bakery was our planned stop. Boulangerie Pâtisserie Salon de thé - Snyder is a cute small place with some colorful chairs in the front, giving you the chance to watch the town's center, a wide range of pastries and for sure multiple different baguettes as well as very lovely and helpful staff. We got Pan au chocolate, a small "Apple pie" and two coffes. Everything was outstandingly tasty and we enjoyed a long two hour breakfast before we headed out for our next hike.
Afterwards we headed to the south, passed Saint-Maurice were I got a blonde beer at Brasserie GUTH. This is a lovely local brewery where young owners are brewing beer in a modern touched bar/brewery with wooden seeting outside at a former gas station.
After many more kilometers we headed up to Château Bernstein where we enjoyed a fantastic view and cooked our own lunch with our gas burner. We prepped some pasta with vegetables on 562m at one of the oldest castles in Elsass.
After being strengthened we walked down to Scherwiller were we found a spot for our tent, a warm shower and a wine of the owner homself at the small camping ground at Bimboes Eric. In the same village we luckily had the chance to visit their small wine festival in honor of their washer woman. It was located at a small river in the town center and we got again tarte flambée. An older couple which were guests at our camping as well, asked us over to their table and we enjoyed a couple of hours with them and some bottles of wine at the festival and back at the campsite. The town of Scherwiller was definitly one of the highlights of our trip regarding the atmosphere, architecture und the lovely people during the small festival.
Next morning we headed out for a first one hour walk to Châtenois to deserve our breakfast. After some more frensh pastry and cheap coffe (1€) we headed further south to pass small towns like Saint-Hippolyte, where we got a glass of wine in a local winery. Later we passed the probably most impressive winery in Rorschwihr. And okay, let's be serious, we did not only pass it, but also headed in and started a free tasting through their assortment of wine. The winery is called Rolly Gassmann and worth a visit for everyone passing. The gigantic building located at the hills of Rorschwihr offers a spectacular view over the surrounding, especially their wine yards. So either for a good sip of wine or just for the view, it's worth it.
On the wine festival that day in Rorschwihr we got another tarte flambée and a sausage and enjoyed some frensh music of a live band. Shortly before sundown we took our last stage of hike for around one hour to the farm of Meyer Patrick in Bergheim. A huge farm with multiple campsites. Not the cleanest and most beautiful spot, but still a good option to stop, where you'll always find a spot to camp.
On our last full day we took the public transport from Bergheim to Colmar. We passed Sélestat and stopped for a 2h break to get breakfast, check the carts of the flower festival "Corso Fleuri" the day before and have a short glimpse at the city. The festival is a huge thing in the whole surrounding and many people built the carts which are decorated with thousands of flowers for months. The topic was Balade en Europe, but just check the pictures yourself - it's amazing art.
Finally, Colmar was for the whole trip our goal and we definitly enjoyed our time there. We first passed Champ de Mars a central park, walked through Marché Couvert Colmar the cities markethall and strived along La Lauch, the cities river.
After enjoying the magnificent city center, with its colorful timbered houses and cobblestone streets which is worth a visit for everyone, we headed out again to Champ de Mars were a professional musician was playing live in the sun because of a music festival happening during this weekend.
We spent a long time in the sun on the grass and drunk the wine we bought at Rolly Gassmann, the day before.
In the evening we walked out of the city to our campsite for this night at Kemp Marc which is officially in Wintzenheim but only a 45 min walk from the city center.
The campsite offers a couple camping spots around one central building that offers covered seating, bathrooms and electricity, next to the owners private house. Also you have the possibility to built up your tent beyond small trees to get a bit of cover during rain or windy nights.
This marked our last night during our trip. The next day we left Colmar and the Alsace region with many great impressions and memories by bus.
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