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may '17: autour de ramonchamp.

wolfdog watching some cows.

the twinning town i talked about in my last post is called ramonchamp and is situated in a very narrow part of the upper mosel valley in the vosges mountains. it's a remote little village with about 2000 inhabitants, a very rural place - perfect for unhitching from the life in big cities or generally everyday shenanigans. 

most of our delegation is always housed in a hostel located on a slope with a nice view over the mosel valley and a lot of the evening activities took place in that hostel, too. on our last day we had a barbeque and also visited a little market next to a nearby little lake surrounded by blooming broom bushes. it was just a beautiful spring day with nice conversations and bonding with our french hosts.

this wolfdog greeted us every morning when we left the hostel and also welcomed us back when we returned. at first i was like: a wolf! a wolf! a wolf on a balcony! but then of course it dawned on me that this wasn't a wolf but a wolfdog. i really loved the fact, though, that this beautiful creature served as some kind of greeting committee :) and it was kind of a haunting sight as well, as they look so similar to wolfs.


the view from our hostel down onto the mosel valley & ramonchamp.

a typical vosgean cow. they always look like they were painted with a broad paintbrush.

there were other cows as well, but the one in the front is another example of the vosgean cow, this time with a more distinctive brush.

little creek coming to light.


walking down the vosgean roads.

i liked how this house was built into the ground.

passed by a little airfield.

with the cutest little plane on its grounds.

equestrians outpaced us soon enough.

little barn structure on lush meadows.


it's such a common sight, the fishing ponds of the vosges mountains.

a very aviator-friendly shed.


also stumbled over this motor-powered relict. it actually looked like it was still in use.

returning to the hostel.

after a nice lunch we ventured out again to visit a flower market that took place next to a small lake. here you could see the blooming broom bushes everywhere, which are widely common in that part of the region.

this is kind of a sad photo with the little bicycle laying in the water and the old boat haphazardly left behind. what makes this picture great again is the dog walking into the scenery :D

ah, that view was quite something...


ending our short france adventure with a picture of the broom blossoms.

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