Where's Bertie? To everyone's surprise, he's back in the car park at Obernai.
Weather: A return to high summer, with clear skies and 27 degrees (24 at Mont Sainte Odile).
A gloriously quiet night was had half way up Mont Sainte Odile last night, and all was still quiet as we headed out of Bertie's door for a run/walk that was also going to serve as a sightseeing trip. On the agenda, along the length of a 13.25km route, were seven ruined castles across four sites, one ancient and extensive defensive wall, one ruined convent and one very smart (and very touristy) convent.
To make it even better, we were under blue skies (actually, most of the time we were under trees, but above them, the sky was blue), whereas low cloud was hanging over the plain.
Weather: A return to high summer, with clear skies and 27 degrees (24 at Mont Sainte Odile).
A gloriously quiet night was had half way up Mont Sainte Odile last night, and all was still quiet as we headed out of Bertie's door for a run/walk that was also going to serve as a sightseeing trip. On the agenda, along the length of a 13.25km route, were seven ruined castles across four sites, one ancient and extensive defensive wall, one ruined convent and one very smart (and very touristy) convent.
To make it even better, we were under blue skies (actually, most of the time we were under trees, but above them, the sky was blue), whereas low cloud was hanging over the plain.
Castle on the prominence, cloud over the plain beyond.
We had quick looks around most of the castles we passed, although we didn't venture too close to the walls or go inside any of them, as they all looked like part of them could collapse at any moment.
...encloses a huge area (we only followed a relatively short section of it) and I wondered out loud what it's history was. One of the 13 information boards at the hilltop convent addressed the question, although with the answer that could be paraphrased as 'nobody knows' - not even what it was protecting. Apparently, it dates back to the iron age, with restoration and additions in Roman times and in the 7th century.
The paths started to get busier as we approached our final castle ruins (comprising three castles atop three adjacent outcrops) - evidence of the hour of day (late morning) and that we were getting near to some of the main car parks that serve Mont Sainte Odile.
It was busy indeed when we got to the convent complex that sits perched atop the hill, where we took the time for a look around ourselves.
We didn't attempt to go into the church (sweaty and smelly as we were), but apparently there have been two people praying at the altar (presumably not the same two...) for 24 hours per day on a continuous basis since 1931.
The final point of interest on our way back to Bertie was the 'miraculous spring' where Odile (after whom the Mont is named; she was involved in many miracles during her life) came across a blind chap. She banged her staff on the ground, a spring miraculously appeared, the water was rubbed in his eyes and his sight was restored (allegedly...). The spring has continued to run to this day. We dismissed the legend as nonsense ...then I suggested that it wouldn't do any harm for Mick to splash some of the healing waters on to his achilles. If it is miraculous, it hasn't been as fast acting on Mick as it was on its original beneficiary.
Back at Bertie, lunch was hastily thrown together and consumed, before I went out for Lap 2. I'd enjoyed the variety of terrain and woodland so much on our first lap, that I decided to go around again, although on a slightly shorter route. The shortening didn't quite work out, mainly because I knew where I was going from the first lap, and I completely failed to notice when I passed the point where I was supposed to veer off. I did manage to omit the hilltop convent on the second lap, although not without some to-ing and fro-ing trying to find a path that didn't exist.
It was approaching 1530 by the time I got back to Bertie, and gone 1600 by the time we were showered. Usually that would prompt us to decide to just stay put for another night. Had we done so, we could have managed both with the poor internet connection and without the couple of items of groceries we needed, but as tomorrow is Sunday, we opted to drive back down the hill to pick up a few supplies. The plan had been to do that at the SuperU with the service point, but when we got there and considered our options as to where to spend the night, the most obvious answer was to backtrack the 5km to Obernai, where we knew the vast car park would have space. That would also allow us to shop at Lidl (much more efficient; I know where everything is kept!).
It was a surprise to arrive in Obernai at gone 1730 and find the car park quite so full. We manged to find a spot for Bertie (well away from the cockerel, I'm pleased to say!), but once again I'm bamboozled as to why Obernai is so busy when Barr is so quiet.
We have shopped at Aldi for ages now. It is compact and we know where everything is and the majority of our purchases are repeat items - we can get round for a major shop in about fifteen minutes or less. The other day I had occasion to go into Asda in Kendal. The interior is immense. To walk from one end to the other is an LDP challenge - frustrating when you have to go back, or search for something. One item I wanted was a sandwich and I gave up looking. After going through the till I then found a number of ancillary counters outside the main shopping part one of which was the sandwich bar. I grabbed what I wanted then realised there were six people in a queue for the checkout. I put the sandwich back and departed. I do have what is perhaps a pathological aversion to queuing.
ReplyDeleteThere have been a few times on Big Walks where I've bemoaned adding miles onto a day by walking around an Asda or Tesco mega-store. Instant mash is one item that always seems illusive and can add five goes up and down the same aisles until I finally find it.
Delete