The Hills are Alive

Day 3 – four castles hike/Molsheim old town

Our hotel is very proud of being green. It’s not painted green of course but it has green credentials. The usual “keep using your towels”, “use the hand wash for everything” etc etc. so why do they put you in a hot room with a duvet the thickness of a three hundred year old tree and an air conditioner? Obviously the only way you are going to sleep is with the air conditioning on full blast. Not much fun for S as he was in direct range of it and in danger of being coated in frost, but I was fine. That was until we could hear an intermediate beeping from an unknown source. I could have slept through it as I was knackered but it was bothering the b’jesus out of S and I couldn’t help but become wide awake as S went on a frantic search for the source.

I eventually recalled that I’d read a review where someone was very cross about a similar thing and it turned out to be a malfunctioning a/c pump. Problem solved. A/c off, duvet out of cover and thrown onto the floor, sleep resumed for S but by this time I was wide awake and sleep eluded me for a long,long time.

Cue a very grumpy Jill at breakfast wondering why on earth I wasn’t back in my own home where noisy dope smoking reprobates and loud beeping noises weren’t a regular occurrence.

Coffee is marvellous though, and after several mugs I was fine and ready to face the day. That was until we went to Aldi.

Aldi is just across the road from us and is far too tempting to be ignored.It’s siren call beckons us over to buy sandwiches and snacks, small amounts that don’t even warrant an Aldi trolley or pull along basket. It gives us amnesia so we don’t recall how awful it is to stand in an Aldi queue. When you see the queue though, you remember but it’s too late, you’re committed. Even though the three people in front of you have overflowing trolleys. And those people are old, older than us and take ages. BUT – a new till is opening so along with several others who are as pissed off as you are, you all walk very quickly (no running, too desperate) to that till – and there is no cashier. 10 minutes later, an employee saunters to the till. Passive aggression at its best, yet we all thank him/her as if we’re scared they will take away the privilege of us paying for our items.

Bah. Hate Aldi but also love it.

Anyway, Aldi lunch is put into our rucksacks and off we go to the Vosges national park to find the four castles hike loop.

First on the list is Fleckinstein castle. This is the most commercial of the castles and charges an entry fee. We had a quick look at the outside and carried on, but if you have kids, it’s a nice place to stop as they have lots of kiddy entertainment there.

Next stop, Chateau Lowenstein. This was my favourite as the views are fantastic and there’s plenty of it. We had a spot of lunch here (Aldi sarnis travel well, it’s the preservatives that do it) and the sun came out – bliss.

Chateau Hohenbourg. A more modern castle, you could tell by the carvings on the door surrounds. Finally chateau Wegelnburg, the highest but least interesting.

We tried to find a more interesting route back but the paths were a bit dodgy so we reverted to the same ones we ascended.

We were pretty pooped after the walk which was disappointing as the ascent was less than 500m and not much more than 6 miles as a round trip. More practice needed!

Next stop Molsheim to drop in on the tourist office and maybe check out the station for tomorrow’s visit to Strasbourg.although tired this turned out to be a great idea as the tourist office is in the old town which is stunning.

Back to the hotel where they had listened to our tale of last nights woe and provided a sheet as well as a thinner (but still too heavy) duvet to sleep under. That’s fine, glad they listened.

Quick shower then back to the old town where we ate at the Place d’ville de Paris which served local food and was very tasty. I won’t tell you what S had, but it’s in the same league as pig’s ears.

A good day and a step count of over 28,000.

I was just about to say surely I should sleep well tonight but the a/c seems to have come on of its own accord – what the hell???