For the first time in a long while I went on vacation. I went to France, to two locations, both near the border of Germany (the latter close to the Swiss border too). I also went on three hikes, which I would describe as moderate difficulty for the shape I’m in.
Circulaire de l’Eselbahn
The first was ‘Circulaire de l’Eselbahn’, whose name is a combination of French and German. ‘Circulaire’ meaning ‘circular’, based on the circular shape of the track and ‘Eselbahn’ being German for ‘donkey track’.
This hike is based on the 1883 built traintrack which stretch from the southern Lutzelbourg to the northern Drulingen and passed through Phalsbourg/Vilsberg:
The purpose of this traintrack was mainly to bring sandstone from Vilsberg, Bust and Hangwiller (not pictured on the map, smaller town north of Berling) to Lutzelbourg.
On the hike itself you don’t see much evidence of a traintrack on any of the track - except for some streetsigns featuring the word ‘Gare’ (the French word for ‘[train] station’).
The hike itself 11,7km (7.3 miles) with minimal height difference (about 90m/300ft elevation difference at most).
The route has a few things to see, including a water-tower and a few churches in the towns you cross.
We started this hike in Berling (center west) and walked the route clockwise (so walking north), just in case we were too tired by the time we reached Pfalzweyer (center east) we could decide to walk inbetween these two towns and cut the route short.
In the end we walked the full 11,7km route.
The scenery was varied and included some forest areas, but also more open field (included corn and grain fields). Among these fields we also saw a really big sunflower field:
The other hikes were in a different location, further south in France more near the Swiss border - but still near the German border too. We were in a small town just west of the French city of Mulhouse.
Circuit of Notre-Dame du Chêne and the Chêne de Saint-Louis
The first hike we took in this area didn’t have its own name, because I think it’s an existent route + an extension to it. The name of this hike it’s based on is “Circuit of Notre-Dame du Chêne and the Chêne de Saint-Louis” (which translates to “Circuit of the Notre Dame* of the oak tree and the oak tree of Saint-Louis” (*‘Notre dame’ literally means ‘Our Lady [Mary]’ and is a title used for many Christian churches).
The route we took was roughly 11,5km (7 miles) long with only some elevation entering the town of Heimsbrunn:
The default route + the extension on the right (roughly).
The ‘extra bit’ on the top is the walk to the (probably) 700 year old oak tree and the chapel the hike is named after.
The chapel, where people can light a candle in memory of their loved ones. The wall on the right featured room for people to place/hang a plaque in remembrance of loved ones, although both sides of the wall are completely filled.
The eponymous (for the chapel and route) 700 year old oak.
Freiburg im Breisgau
The German city of Freiburg im Breisgau is near the French border and is a pretty German city. The city is built just next to a hill (where I’m from we’d call it a mountain, at 450 meter/1500 feet tall) and they have a cable car set up to halfway up this hill.
A three minute long ride on this cablecar takes you a little over halfway up this hill
‘Schlossberg’ is German for ‘Castle hill’, because a castle was built up here in the 11th century. Little of this castle remains here today, but it does serve for a great way to look over the city.
To give an even better view over the city, a 35 meter (115 feet) tall tower is placed on the top of the hill. After you get up its 153 steps (which show the names of the donors for this tower) it gives you a great view over the city, including the cathedral we had just visited prior:
At the very top the tower is quite shaky, moving about from side to side - especially if people try to do this on purpose. This movement side-to-side is by design, as the tower is reportedly able to withstand winds up to Beaufort 12 (also known as a hurricane, 118km/h or 73mph winds)
The view over the city we’ve just visited is marvelous.
This photo was taken from the top of the tower, looking westward over the city. The couple mountains just outside of the city to the right are in Germany, the mountains in the background are all the way over in France, just west of Colmar. This mountain range is called the ‘Vosges’.
The walk down as quite treacherous and I’m glad we took a cable car at least for some part of it!
Le Sentier Des Bunkers
Finally we did another hike, with a name that translates to ‘The Trail of Bunkers’. The hike started in the town of Burnhaupt-le-Bas.
While currently France and Germany are kind and cordial with each other, their past is quite dark. This region of France near the border of Germany especially had to endure a lot of nasty things.
Le Sentier Des Bunkers is a hike that takes you past a dozen bunker structures - or what is left of them, as it is over 100 years since they have been used.
An example of a bunker in better condition
And one that hasn’t stood the test of time
This hike shows you a history of this region, what had to be done to properly attack, defend and resupply in a terrible war.
There are different types of bunkers which you see on this trip, including barracks, supply locations and also what is suspected to be a first aid location, due to its somewhat hidden location. Along the way you see more interesting things, such as two fishing lakes, a small dam and also a large wooden structure meant for picknicking and such (although people were camping there when we passed by).
One person reviewed this hike on Google Maps and mentioned their annoyance with ‘a permanent background noise of a highway’ (which is only nearby during a small portion of the hike) and they also mentioned their disappointment with the state of disrepair of these bunkers.
The latter complaint really annoys me, as I don’t think these buildings should be touched and changed. This is what reality is and what 100 years of a different world does. They should serve as a permanent reminder; this happened once last century and unfortunately again that same century; but never. again.
This hike was 9km/5.5 miles long, but most certainly the most interesting one I’ve done (so far).
EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention this, but I even found a ‘geo cache’ spot sort of by accident. The last bunker had some steel ladder rungs on it, allowing you to climb up it. There I saw a small black tube, which had a plastic baggy with a note in it, which people signed with their name and the date that day. I sadly didn’t have a pen with me to write something down though!
Other than the basics, I don’t know too much of World War I and the impacts it had on this region, but seeing what they had to do here certainly gave me inspiration do look into it further.
So that’s what I did this summer, pretty fun stuff!
I don’t know how to end this post, so here is a picture of a sunflower with some (bumble)bees on it:
) uses the Younger Futhark runic letters for said king’s initials: HB / ᚼᛒ.
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