Friday 15 May 2020

To Paris Station!

Paris? As in Paris, France? No, don't worry - we did not break any corona-related restrictions by travelling to a different country. And although France is not far away (Strasbourg is only 20 km away from O.K.'s village) and we really love to walk, a walk to Paris would have taken us weeks!
We still went to Paris station... you'll see :-)

May the 4th (and yes, I know about the Starwars wordplay) was a sunny Monday with almost summery temperatures of 22 Celsius (71 F). When I was dressed, I walked down the village road to a wooden stall where strawberries and asparagus are sold directly from the farmer's fields and bought strawberries for us while O.K. got things ready at home.

We started our hike directly from the front door; those are my favourite walks, when no car is needed, but of course it limits the range of possible routes somewhat.


Through the village of Zunsweier to the woods (it is the Black Forest), up to a crossing of paths which is called "Pariser Bahnhof" - Paris train station. I have tried to find out why the place has that name, but so far, no success.



On towards this hut, which said outside that it was closed but the door was still open, so of course I had to have a look inside. We stopped outside for a drink of water and a quick snack before walking on.




We enjoyed the view across Gengenbach and the Kinzig valley before walking back.


The Kußeiche ("Kissing Oak") is another landmark on that route. It has a painted "mouth" (not very well visible in my picture) and it is meant to bring good luck to a couple who kiss three times at this spot:


On the last bit of woodland just above the village, a snake crossed our path. It was most likely a grass snake (Ringelnatter); a non-poisonous, harmless species relatively common in Germany. Because it moved very quickly and we were rather surprised by it, neither of us took a picture. All I can say is that it was very beautiful, and fully grown. We hope it finds enough water and amphibians to survive; if it was indeed a grass snake, the place where we met it is not an ideal habitat, as there are no ponds or other water bodies nearby.

As it was still afternoon and sunny, we sat on the balcony with mugs of coffee on vanilla ice cream - one of our favourite summer snacks.

For our evening meal, we took the grill out, and O.K. grilled merguez (spicy sausages). 

An easy first walk (I hesitate to call it hike) to start off the week, in perfect weather and with hardly anybody else about - just the way I like it.

18 comments:

  1. Sounds really wonderful. Excellent weather and beautiful scenery. Pariser Bahnhof sounds like a joke in the middle of the woods....Every time I hear "Gegenbach" I think I must have been there, but don't remember it. It sounds like a town from the "auf der Swabishe eisebahne" but I don't think it is....I think you were having a very pleasant day even if not in a spa hotel.

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    1. Gengenbach does not feature in the song, Kristi; maybe you mean Durlesbach. One bit of the lyrics goes "Meckabeure, Durlesbach".
      Maybe you will recognise Gengenbach if you look at my pictures here.

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  2. I hope you did those three kisses.

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  3. Lovely open views, but a cautionary tale for anyone who types Pariser Bahnhof into their satnav.

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    1. I guess whoever would do that would notice their error instantly!

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  4. You're so fortunate to have lovely places to walk (at home and at O.K.'s) and good weather to go with it (well, most of the time). Balm to the soul.

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    1. That's what it truly is, Mary, balm to the soul.
      I am one fortunate woman, and I know it.

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  5. These are beautiful pictures and the weather sounded perfect. I hope you two have lots of good luck after visiting the kissing tree!

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    1. We have had lots of good luck before, and I guess the three kisses won't do any arm for the future!

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  6. Replies
    1. Easy to see why I like the area so much, isn't it!

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  7. I always love your rambles. I always enjoyed rambling more than hiking. I define rambling as walking with a purpose or destination in mind but with an equal emphasis on the walk itself and the things one might see and find. I was particularly interested in you having merguez because they were one of my favourite sausages when I stayed in France. Oddly another blogger mentioned them this week.

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    1. Thank you, Graham, for your definition of walking, rambling and hiking; I wouldn't have known how to express it so clearly, but it fits my idea of the differences, too.
      Merguez is maybe my favourite type of sausage, and the Turkish butcher in Offenburg sells the best ones.

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  8. Replies
    1. Glad you shared your three kisses. . . . . . .maybe even more!!!
      Coffee over vanilla ice cream sounds delicious - was the coffee iced so it didn't melt the ice cream too quickly?
      Lovely scenery - I have to agree rambling is much more romantic than just walking!

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    2. No, the coffee came straight from the machine; we actually like it that way, when the hot and cold make a creamy mix in the coffee mug, and then in the mouth.

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