7/9 Riquewihr to Aubure

Our morning centered around Ciera and Ethan's departure via TGV. We had everyone up showered, fed and out the door by 08:35 for the 09:02 TGV to CDG direct. We walked across the street and in the station waited with a growing anxious crowd for the track announcement which finally happened at 5 minutes to 9 - with the predicable last minute rush to get them situated say goodbyes and get off before the train rolled out. We sent home a jumbo bag with our purged items.
We returned to the hotel, packed our slimmer backpacks and then returned to the station for a train to Selestat followed by a bus to Ribeauville. We could easily have caught the GR5 here but I had read and heard that the old wine town of Riquewihr was a must see. Untouched by the wars unlike other towns of the area, Riquewihr boasts original buildings. So we did a 35 minute walk around Ribeauville while we waited for our taxi. The town was picturesque but flooded with tourists giving it a theme park feel. I enjoyed the nesting storks atop the buildings. On reaching Riquewihr, there were still tourists but the building were obviously old and many had distinctive wood carvings on the building edges. We ate lunch there before walking up out of town into the hills. The plan was to follow a local route which intersected to GR in the hills. However a bad turn call on my part took us straight up a hill to a road and finally with gps I sorted out where to go. While the distance wasn't long the elevation was significant and took longer than anticipated. We passed by a castle ruin and a skinny ladder up a stone tower yielded fine views. We proceeded to climb steeply over a high ridge then down along a stony source where we passed blueberry pickers with telltale blue lips and tongues when we traded "bonjour". Finally down into the village of Aubere we stayed at at Gite called the Brimbelles. This was a old 2 story wood building with separate plain rooms, a common bathroom with doored toilets and showers. It was fine! Our dinner was a crockpot with wonderful baked pork and potatoes. A unforgettable fantastic hearty home style meal perfect after a walk! Stuffed, sleep came easy.

7/8 Strabourg Rest Day

A Sunday and the day before Ethan and Ciera return to the US. Everybody except Jim slept in and almost missed breakfast. The Internet was up and there was a rush to catch up the blog. Tammy and I purged our packs yet again as we reassessed after our gear acquisitions the night before at Au Vielle Campeur, I scored footbed replacements and we both picked up short gasket like gaiters to keep the trial out of our boots. We sent home our beloved umbrellas due to weight. But I found a smaller lighter one and snagged it - love an umbrella. We finally left the hotel and went to the Cathedral by way of the area called Petit France. Scenic old buildings thronging with tourists. The cathedral is of the beautiful maroon Vosiegn sandstone I have come to appreciate. And it is huge and beautiful, easily swallowing the tourists. Outside sudden wind gusts blew through the streets upsetting vendors and whipping dust.  We bought a Swiss Army knife for Ethan as a remembrance.  We walked back but stopped for a late lunch in Petit France. Back at the hotel everyone napped though I managed a few errands. Only Ethan had any interest in dinner so we hit a Kebab stand that seems common in all the big cities.

7/7 Chatenois to Haut Konigsburg then Strasbourg

Evaluating the options we decided to abbreviate the day by walking to the summit castle of Haut Konigsburg then taking the bus to Selestat and train to Strasbourg. This allowed a full day to tour Strasbourg and rest. The climb out of Chatenois was picturesque before entering the forest. After an 1.5 hours we reached the Macaque monkey colony which we toured. They are free ranging and you feed them popcorn by hand. We left our packs in a attended bin. This is a fantastic experience and well worth the time if primates are your interest. The kids felt it was the best part of the trip! We had lunch at the snack cafe before heading onwards. The climb took about an hour 40 minutes. We spent about an hour and a  half touring the castle - the English audio guide helped. They securely held our packs at the concierge booth during the visit. Afterwards the 4 € /person bus whisked us to Selestat station with time to catch the train to Strasbourg. 30 minutes later we were there- hot! After a quick cleanup Tammy and I hit a gear shop for some supplies such as ankle gators to help keep the trail out of our boots. We went out for dinner and ended up having pizza and crepes. Love those crepes!!

7/6 Andlau to Chatenois - by vehicle

This was scheduled as a 30km day visiting several castle ruins. But it became unfinished business. Ciera was footsore and my shin was irritated. So we looked around Andlau a few hours then taxied back to Barr where we did a walking tour. A pizza for lunch then we walked to the train station which was closed for renovation . Unable to buy tickets a worker explains we should by them from the conductor. But when the train came, there was no conductor! So we rode to Selestat for free. There we caught the bus for Chatenois where we had hotel reservations. On boarding the bus the driver had no cash drawer so he let us and everyone ride for free. Very Strange! On the Wine Road, Chatenois is very picturesque though rebuilt after a fire in late 1800s wiped out the town. There is a spectacular church tower on the site of the former chateaux and the double walls/ moats of this site made it a formidable and well known fortress town in the 1300s. Our hotel the Dontenville was quite quaint and the internet, at long last excellent! We dined at the hotel and had a very sweet local wine. I enjoyed the owner and staff here and it servered our needs well. A block away and around the corner on the GR is a hostel which I looked at - college dorm style with rooms of  3-4 beds with in suite bathrooms it could be a good option. A beautiful red sky finished the evening. Unfortunate we couldn't have walked this segment because the hills are dotted with castle ruins.

7/5 Le Hohwald to Andlau

In the morning Cieras feet were still quite painful - inquiring about bus / taxi options with our proprietress resulted in a generous offer to drive her 20 minutes down valley to the town. Very Generous! Over breakfast she gave us a wonderful recitation of the towns history, and personages of note. Tillys is quite decorated and there is  piano with a cigar burn from where a GI sat and played during the second war. With her fluent English it was hard to leave as I had amassed quite a few questions about the area but the route called. These are wonderful warm people! We paid a visit to the humanist fountain memorializing a woman who survived 2 Nazi camps and was know as the White Angel for her works there. She eventually became a notable humanist and psychiatrist.
The GR climbs steeply out of the valley and reaches a contour where the walking the becomes easy through wonderful woods - very pleasurable! Approaching the monastery of Mt St Odile you cross the ancient megalithic wall of speculative history. Here a sign to the Druids Grotto drew us off the GR and also it suggested it would go to Mt St O. To future walkers I can say Don't Go This Way!!! I didn't understand the size of the plateau here or how Mt St O. is situated on a sliver stretching north and below the main hilltop. We ended up wasting more then an hour running into the GR coming out from Mt St O and after a long walk backwards finally reaching the monastery. Now pressed for time we saw little of it, had soft serve ice cream and ice tea before heading back the way we came. The fastest way across the plateau is to go directly to the site of huge Airbus crash and walk past it out the other side where it junctions with the GR heading down hill. At this point distant thunder motivated us to move it! There is a fantastic Club Vosiegn day shelter we took a minute to view. But very very worth while is the castle ruin 5 minutes off trail about half way to Barr. Finally we emerged in the beautiful scenery of the vineyards approaching Barr. Located on the famous wine road, the half timbered homes are amazingly picturesque. Late in the day with  another hour to Andlau our days destination, we bailed and the local tourist info ordered a taxi which whisked us there in 10 minutes. Reunited with Ciera, we dined at the hotel. The menu options repetitive over the last couple days. A massive wild downpour / thunderstorm was a brief worthwhile interruption to sleep.