Skip to main content

les vosges en automne. le val-d'ajol.

the vosges mountains already impressed me in the summer but when we visited at the end of october, start of november, i fell in love all over again. even though most trees already were bare, you could still see a blotch of colour now and then. especially when the sun was shining. i think we had good luck with the weather again, it was very mixed and one day was so warm that it conjured up a late autumn storm. also: returning to our chalet in the evening ( all cold and stiff ), sitting down to read haruki murakami's norwegian wood while waiting for the fire in the fireplace to get growing, occasionally watching movies ( bienvenue chez les ch'tis ) - that is what autumn and winter should look like. not to forget the wonderful hiking trips, city visits and meet-ups with our french friends.

my bed in the night.

the first day started promising. i think the temperatures went up to almost 20 degress that day. it was really warm. but the sky already promises what would eventually come down on us in the span of a few hours.


apple season! we picked some off the ground and i made clafoutis later in the week. i feel that i need to make clafoutis an autumn staple recipe in my home. delicious!

i love those old farm houses. in this region ( département vosges ) the typical elements of the old houses are small windows, big doorway arches & little outbuildings.

they were still growin pumpkins. it was still a few days until halloween.

the cows of the vosges.

this picture is easily my most favourite from the whole trip. i'm such a cat lover.

rainbow trees.

almost transparent.

even the sheep were still out!

the cemetery of le val-d'ajol.

i'm missing the park character ( like in germany ), but it's still quite a sight, so many graves and mausoleums sitting tightly next to each other.

another cat. more material for my cat book, haha.

i loved this facade!

remember the violet berries i've posted before? i found them again in france.

these plants were quite quirky. i only know these in less bright colours and especially not in these!

the wind was moving this tree very beautifully. sometimes i'm sad that my pictures don't move like gifs.

the storm was approaching. initially we wanted to hike up the hill to this house you see almost on top. we didn't find the right way, though ( which lead to an argue with my dad - that was not uncommon this time - we almost got lost a few days later and hell break loose between us. i rarely fight with my dad, but this time... he was just so stubborn and wouldn't listen to me at all ). we were glad in the end, that we didn't make it on top, because look at those serious clouds!

we came home just in time as soon as the first dropletsof rain fell on the grounds

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

november: kickelhahn, himmelblau & weimar cemetery.

i had a week off in november and visited my parents ( as i often do on my vacations ). on a sunday morning we headed to the thuringian forest to climb onto the peak of the kickelhahn mountain. the kickelhahn mountain is the landmark mountain of the city of ilmenau . johann wolfgang von goethe , the famous writer & philosopher, often visited ilmenau and also climbed the kickelhahn. oftentimes he stopped at a little hut in the woods to relax for a while and on one of these stops he wrote one of his most known poems.  our little adventure didn't last the whole day, though, as we had a little date with the weimar cemetery to look after the grave of my grandparents and then to visit my cousin and his family. tiny peek onto the kickelhahn tower. thuringian woods - deep dark green. at the goethe hut. this plate shows the german version of the poem goethe wrote here. inside the hut. and here's the english translation. i love this poem so much, as ...

in the forests.

it's that time of the year again.

july '20: lake petersdorf discoveries and a plea against genocide.

the green wild meadows of malchow's sandfeld. in the west of malchow there is a big chunk of forest that spans towards plauer see, a widely 'uncultivated' area these days, but it hasn't always been this way. in my last post i mentioned the nazi munition factory that had been built in these woods, away from prying eyes of their enemies and where they also built an external subcamp for the concentration camp ravensbrück. exactly these woods we explored on a pretty sunny day, betraying the darkness that happened around these parts. isn't it weird that there are places in this world that were built or used by dark forces and horrible regimes and you vist them 80 years later and they are the most peaceful places you can imagine? sometimes my brain can't cope with the contrast of knowing what was in the past and what the present looks and feels like. it definitely leaves me with a strange impression often, kind of like a little sting in my heart and brain that is not ...