Dambach-la-Ville

25 June 2015:  Back on the trail!  Refreshed – but also a bit rusty – after our relaxed, two-day break in Strasbourg, we took a train back to Barr and the GR5.  From there, the "trail" follows a road for 4.5 km to Andlau.  It was going to be a long day, so we decided to skip the walk on the road by hitchhiking to Andlau.

Upon arrival in Andlau, we paused for coffee at a café.  We had learned that the Exposition Internationale Mineral & Gem would take place this weekend in nearby Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, attracting thousands of visitors.  So we needed to make some telephone calls to find a place to stay Saturday night. 

With our accommodations for the coming days arranged, we finally started hiking.  Using a large-scale map that shows all of the many marked trails in the area, we plotted a route that gave us a shortcut through one area.  Along the way, we missed a turn on the trail that were following.  Absent trail mark, or inattention on our part?...  Getting back to the proper trail turned the shortcut into a "longcut"!

There is no accommodation along today's section of the GR5, so at the end of the day we followed a different trail down to Dambach-la-Ville, an attractive wine town where we had reserved a room in a chambres d'hôtes.  The owner of the chambres d'hôtes welcomed us warmly, and we had a pleasant chat with her over a glass of Muscat.  We finished the evening with a good dinner at a nearby restaurant: tarte à l'oignon, choucroute and sherbet, accompanied by a bottle of Riesling produced by the owners of the restaurant.

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Mary plots our next move on the train from Strasbourg to Barr:

A house in Andlau:

We started with a trail that climbed steadily in the forest above Andlau:

Col de l'Ungersberg:

Approaching Dambach-la-Ville:

Our chambres d'hôtes:

We like the varied pink granite that was used for building churches and other public buildings. 

A hearty dinner after a long day:

Returning to our chambres d'hôtes after dinner: