a few words about my trip to france: we stayed in the vosges mountains in east france. the village i come from has a town twinning with a village ( ramonchamp ) in this region, and the last time my parents were in france ( in may ) two people offered them to spend their vacations at their chalet. my parents thought it over for quite some time until they decided: yes, we are going to spend our first week of vacations in le val-d'ajol, a commune in the vosges département. when we got there we were welcomed in such a kind manner. it wasn't that long ago when my parents did see a. & f. & and it was as if they had a reunion. the chalet itself had all kinds of luxuries: a sauna, a pool & a huge tub. it was all wooden & charming. i remember wood strawberries scattered all over the garden, humming bees and bumblebees, birds chirping & the cows grazeing right next to the chalet. i knew that i would be having a good time in this place. and i assure you, i've really fallen in love with this region. i love rural places where people still seem to work hand in hand with nature. there were farms scattered everywhere, many things that were offered in market places were locally grown or locally produced. the people were so friendly and open, even though they knew they had complete strangers in front of them, they still wished you 'bonjour, mesdames et monsieur'. there is a german saying: leben wie gott in frankreich ( roughly translated to: living life like god in france - which would be: to live off the fat of the land ) - and that's what we did: relaxing, hiking, swimming, eating delicious food & meeting up with wonderful people & animals.
the evening sky.
the next morning we made a walk around le bois du talhoux - a small forest right next to our house.
mountain architecture.
cows greeting us on our way up.
what i also love about mountains: the flora! there are so many heavenly smelling plants everywhere.
the donkey first wanted to be caressed... then it was too much - and he almost bit me ):
i really love these tiny old farm houses. with a bit of effort they could totally be habitable ( it's all i would ever need: a small house that accommodates one or two persons at most. )
old walls & blue flowers.
le domaine le clos lery. we just walked by & didn't enter, but the next time we're going to visit this will be on our agenda. it's a horse / nettle farm & a little restaurant. they make food with nettles & also manufacture nettle products such as syrups, honey, pesto etc. on the last day in france we visited a small market in girmont-val-d'ajol & one of the owners of the the domain sold her products there. she is originally from switzerland & talked a few german words with us ( until we bought some nettle honey ;) ) & and i guess we will find our way back to the domain next time. she was really friendly :)
view onto le val-d'ajol.
green & blue.
the views up on these mountains were absolutely gorgeous.
house in ruins. right next to it there was an overgrown car. we later learned from our hosts that a man lived here once & when he died there was no relative that took care of the house or his car standing in front of it. so everything is left behind like it was when the man died.
little streamlet.
ah~ just a typical farm house - with big carriage entrance & wide facade. another typical thing: a dog defending his home. i cannot count the number of the dogs we have seen on our hiking trips.
the range land right next to our house. me made a short break here & then hopped in the car to see the main district & some cascades & l'etang du villerain - a big fish pond near girmont-val d'ajol.
in the principal town of le val-d'ajol: notre dame de l'assomption.
la mairie. the town hall.
impressions from le val d'ajol.
this cascade was situated in faymont, another district of le val-d'ajol.
another cascade we visited was la cascade du géhard.
and the final goal of the day was l'etang du villerain - a fish pond erected in the middle ages by monks.
it was very idyllic. there were a few hobby fishers around but it was still very quiet & lovely.
une petite cascade.
ripples on the water.
we made a small walk through swamplike territory - i loved how the sun fell through the trees & lighted the little creeks everywhere.
on the way home.
a last look out of the our chalet window.
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