On the train from Strasbourg, south to the smallish town of Obernai.
Mom’s old Yosemite raincoat, a backpack, and water--it must be an ADVENTURE!
In Obernai, I had to wait for the TI to open, so I could buy a carte IGN (a topographical map with marked trails). While wandering around the area, I got my first glimpse of Sainte Odile, atop a spindly fountain next to a very old belfry (bellfroi). I was startled when I noticed what she was holding--a book with two eyes on its pages. I had to wait patiently to find out.
The beginning of the trail.
A break in the forest. You see that little peak of blue hill, between the two main “peaks”, hovering over the trees? That’s the Mont!
At this point I heard some rumblings, and became convinced that there was going to be a lightning storm and I was going to die all alone in the forest struck by freakish pointy electricity. I started walking verrry quickly, hoping to make it to Ottrott before tragedy struck. But the lightning held off--it didn’t even rain.
The beginning of Ottrott. The whole town smelled like honeysuckle.
The beginning of the Sentier des pelerins (the Pilgrim’s Trail).
You see that little blue and yellow square in the bottom left? That means that this little bit of trail to Mont Ste-Odile is also part of a rather larger path--San Juan de Compostela, or Saint-Jacques de Compostèle.
. . . Which explains the stone crucifixes. I’d seen one before, but not until I came upon this rather startling one (at the end of a fairly steep incline) did I realize it was because of San Juan de Compostela.
Finally, a break in the unrelenting green! Around this point I met a fun older French couple who could out-hike me easily, even while the dame bavardeuse (talkative lady) was chatting away about the coquilles des pelerins and her violinist son. I managed to cheerfully interrupt and found out the names of a few plants: fougères (ferns), broullière (a kind of spiny, pine-like pink-flowered bush), and genet (a yellow flower that looks like a miniature snapdragon).
And then I was in a field! Right below the Mont Ste-Odile.
Ta-daa! I sat down and drank about a gallon of water.
More to come next week.
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