OR WHEN THE HEART IS BACK TO ITS OWN COUNTRY?
The hardest part of my travels are those moments when people talk to me about France as an Eldorado. People tell me "it's great, you have all the possible landscapes gathered in the same country, you have the gastronomy and then an incredible access to culture! To which I often answer:
YEAH NAH.
I often try to convince myself, but I always end up feeling ashamed. Ashamed, because the feeling that I very often have when I am abroad is that I am not able to fully appreciate the country I come from. Worse, it is not uncommon to hear me say : "I hate France".
And yet. All my guides in Patagonia were eager to tell me about my country through its incredible mountaineering when you are bitten by trekking and rock-climbing . One of my adventure buddies in Argentina was telling me about the Alps and the Portes du Soleil as one of the best places in Europe for downhill mountain biking . Two guide friends in Voss kept telling me about their winter experiences in the resorts and their discoveries of the Ardèche and its rivers for kayaking in the summer... Not to mention the surfers from Norway who reminded me of the waves in the south of France or the huts lost in the Alps with breathtaking views...
So, by dint of pretty stories, I too began to believe it.
And if I were able to change the way I look at France, would I fall in love with my own country again?
That's how I decided that if I had the opportunity, when I got back from New Zealand, I would go and explore my own country to make up my own mind about it. A last minute holiday for my mum and off we went for 5 days of adventures and discoveries in the Vosges... Hiking, mountain biking in a bike park, winding roads, endless lakes and forests... one thing is sure, my little France still has some potential... Are you coming ? Let's go !
5 DAYS IN "LES VOSGES"
For those who don't know, I come from the flattest region of France: the North. So, when people talk to me about mountains, I rather think of the Alps or the Pyrenees. And yet. The Vosges, the Auvergne or the Jura are regions that I have too often forgotten... I had never realized that, barely 5 hours drive from home, I could ski in winter, hike in summer or go mountain biking... So you can understand my surprise and amazement when I started planning this mother-daughter road trip.
We were staying in Remiremont, a small town just before the Vosges National Park, 20 minutes from Gerardmer. Convenient because it is less touristy and cheaper than all the other summer destinations. Because if there's one thing that makes me hate France so much, it's the feeling of crowds everywhere (yes yes, even when my friends say "ah no, there aren't many people there" for me, it's already too much). That's also why I chose this place. The idea wasn't to disgust me more with France, but to change my slightly distorted outlook about it.
So, on the first morning, with the beautiful weather outside, we decided to go and explore the lakes region, in order to get straight into the atmosphere... Well, for the first time, it was a great experience... and a big crush...
1. LE LAC DES CORBEAUX
DAY 1: Love at first sight for the Lac des Corbeaux, (which means the crows lake) situated at an altitude of over 800 m. The road to get there is quite picturesque and the lake hides in the middle of endless trees. You can go around it in 20 - 30 min or climb to the top for a breathtaking view (count minimum 30 min of hiking, at a good pace and on a rather difficult ground). There are many other hikes in the area, and despite the large number of people, I felt like I was "alone" in the world.
2. LE LAC DE LISPACH
Second visit: Lake Lispach.
It is a lake invaded by small islands of vegetation, formed by the peat bog. It was a magical moment when we arrived since the wind had stopped completely and the lake had turned into a mirror. There is an equipped and didactic walk (accessible to families) which goes all around it, with pretty footbridges like in New Zealand. It was a great discovery and an opportunity to go exploring this time with my mum!
3.ON THE ROAD
Whether it's rain or shine, I will not hide my surprise when I discover all these very photogenic roads... From Remiremont to the Lake of the Crows, from the lake of Lispach to the lake of Retournemer, from the lake of Longemer to Gerardmer, the trees that surrounded us really made me smile again... It may not be New Zealand, but I still wanted to stay there !
4. MOUNTAIN BIKE IN LAC BLANC BIKE PARK
Second day: DH Mountain Bike session at the Lac Blanc Bike Park. A very first for me in France and a pure joy... you can see it in my face on the pictures, can't you see it?!
Compared to my sessions in Norway or New Zealand I was really surprised of the crowd first... and secondly of the grades ! They seemed much more difficult than elsewhere but the trails were really well done and there was something for everyone !
If only I had known earlier that we had this "so close" to home... To tell you the truth, I didn't even know we had ski resorts in the Vosges! (yes yes I'm slowly but surely waking up haha) One thing's for sure, there's going to be some weekend excursions when I get back to the north!
5. LAC BLANC / LAC NOIR
In the afternoon of the second day, direction Lac Blanc and Lac Noir (White & Black lakes) via the col de la Schlucht. There are a lot of hikes to do to have nice views from the top, but considering the rain, we didn't take the risk. The idea was not to go home with a broken mum ;) The advantage of these two lakes is that we could go there by car, so the visit will not have been completely lost!
6. VILLAGES OF ALSACE
Third day: visit of the villages of Alsace. To my great surprise, I discovered that Vosges and Alsace were indeed glued together. It's silly but I had never really paid attention on the map... (yes well, I was good at geography though ^^). As the weather was very uncertain, we went to see Kaysersberg and Riquewhir, which I had both seen in winter with the Christmas markets.
It was also nice to go and try out the area on this "maybe a bit more" touristic side of the department but to go there mainly focusing on the gastronomy (wine and cheese of course ! Munster to be precise). And then this change of scenery in such a short drive: the flat country with the vineyards in the foreground and the mountains in the background... it was magical.
On the other hand, I'm not gonna lie, although I liked the visits, at the end of the day, I had only one desire, it was to go back to the mountains...
7. TENDON WATERFALLS
On the way back, we stopped to see "La grande cascade de Tendon", then we took the path to the small version "La petite cascade de Tendon". The waterfall itself is pretty but the number of tourists is much less... Luckily, the walk linking the two was less busy. It was nice to discover our French style waterfalls but for the wild side, lost in the middle of nature, with skinny dipping pictures, you will have to come back... In spring or autumn, I imagine that there are much less people.
8. LE COL DE LA SCHLUCHT
Last day of visit: The Schlucht Pass and the Sentier des Roches
That was a good day to take my mum on her first hike and what a hike it was!
This rocky path is often announced as difficult, not for its duration or its elevation (the short version only takes 2h30 to 3 hours to do the loop) but for its terrain: the first three quarters of the hike alternates between rocky ground and path on the edge of the mountain. (good luck to those who have vertigo) On the other hand, a few minutes walk is enough to have a stunning view of the Vosges mountains. It was a great experience and I could only be proud of the mamounette who reached the summit without too many worries!
9. LAST DAY
Last day, back home. Under the recommendation of my cousin who lives in Strasbourg, we took the road to the abbeys of Senone and Moyenmoutier, passing by the lake of Pierre-Percée before taking the motorway northwards. A good way to say goodbye to the green forests of this region before swapping them again for the endless fields of the north...
TAKE A NEW LOOK AT MY OWN COUNTRY
This trip to the Vosges, was very needed after those few complicated months spent in New Zealand.
I needed to reconnect with this country, the one I come from and which has filled my life for 25 years, but this time with completely new eyes. It's silly but for me France has this face of the past. I've travelled it long, wide and across, but at the time I wasn't really passionate about mountains, climbing, mountain biking or hiking... And then, I was living in Paris, I was beginning to suffocate from the city life but I didn't know anything else. So, France, I never really perceived it as a land of adventure...
For a few days, immersing myself in these little peaks was like reconciling myself with my past. By recreating a link between the France I could love today and the France I lived in a few years ago, I recreated a link between Coralie who lives abroad today and the one I hated for a long time in the past. I had never really approached the question from this angle, but venturing into what was once my "home" has allowed me to learn to become one with all the versions of myself... (and you know there are dozens of "coco" or "frenchie" in me ;))
And even though I often depict France abroad, I defend our culture of gastronomy and sociability with all my heart and soul... There are indeed things that are beyond me, that make me furious, that disappoint or exasperate me when I return to my own country, but believe me, there are also a good number of things that I miss once I'm gone. And if I often thought I hated it, it is surely because I find it very difficult to accept certain aspects of my French personality. And as for New Zealand, I would so much like our country to be perfect that I often forget to appreciate it for what it is, with its qualities as well as its faults!
In the end, my love story with France is a bit like all my love stories... It is nothing more than a reflection of the relationship I have with myself... A complicated and even contradictory one, but generous and rich of adventures... ;) And believe me, the day I will be completely at peace with myself, I will surely tell you that the country I am in is absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. Whereas in fact, if I am sincere, no matter where I will be, it is not the country that will be wonderful, but the space I will inhabit my head, my body and my mind! :) (because when we try to "flee" our city or country, we are all looking for the same thing: an ideal place to be the happiest person in the world. But there is nothing physical about this space... it is simply "mental"...)
In the meantime, I can tell you that I am already dreaming of another adventure on french roads, discovering our mountains, our mountain bike tracks, our climbing walls, our gastronomy and myself! And something tells me that this escapade was only the first of a long series.
Amour. Co.
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PS : thanks to my precious cousin's advices to organize this little road trip !
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