Bluesky Tour - Episode 10 - Winkel France

 (continued from Episode 9)

Unsure whether I should feel lucky to arrive here at Winkel in France while it doesn't rain too much or unlucky that it still rains (a bit), I unload my bike in front of my AirBnB to put it in the garage before rain gets heavier. I take the keys from the lockbox, open the garage and... I see another car inside. It's got more than enough space for my bike but no space for the car to get out in this case. So I leave it outside and take my things upstairs to deal with it later. Yes, I am the kindest biker in the world, everybody else would be like "F U, I paid it, I use it.". Don't rush to say "you should too", wait for it. Not only here, elsewhere too. Makes the world a better place.

I'm unpacking upstairs while transferring the files of the day to my laptop when I here the door bell from downstairs. I open via the intercom and a woman who's probably mother my two female hosts welcomes me in full smiley mood although in almost total absence of English. Well, that's France in case you don't know. And my French are as bad as her English which means almost non existent.

She tells me about the garage, I try to explain her that since there's a car already that's a problem and then says that they have a second car always out so I can block the one in the garage - no problem. How could I imagine someone might not have a problem having their car blocked for 6 days but I'm more than happy to have my iron horse dry and safe in there. She tells me she's been at my birthplace (Athens) 40 years ago and I tell her that she's gotta come back as things have changed a lot ever since, some for the worse but most for the better. It's funny that she keeps talking to me in full friendly mood while I'm beyond hungry and can't wait to cook, unable to respond in French or fully understand what she says. I can definitely get her as she lists the edible stuff she has left for me in my studio.

God they're all so delicious, local and mostly homemade. Jams, dry fruits, Alsatian pretzel, you name them. I can only complain for the microscopic size of those jam "vases" but that's France, we can't have it all. Did I mention how delicious they are? I'm drooling while typing...

I manage to sort my files, satisfy my stomach and later get ready to fall like a brick on the bed after a long wet ride from Germany. God this bed is such a magnet. Am I that tired or is it that good? Or both? Who fucking cares when it's pure joy.

Next morning I breakfast myself and get ready to walk around the beauties of the area. Walking is my way to detox long rides. My body screams for that.

That's how the street I stay at looks like:

And that's the way to the forest I'm heading to:

As soon as the village ends and the forest begins the following signs inform the visitors about the natural wealth of the place and the history that's behind it:

Being near the German border you can imagine what happened here during WWII. There's bits of the famous Maginot line around here and a regiment of Moroccans fought here as well. I hope the weather will allow me to explore them all in the next days so at the moment I enjoy the serenity and the shades of green this masterpiece has to offer:

No surprise the road is closed half of the year:

Time to walk those attractive trails:

As I can see this meadow here which hosts the local spring has some artistic touches:

So I walk down this trail through this natural "Arch of Triumph" to get a closer look:

You know you're in France when... this:

We call this "crying tree" in Hellas for a reason:

Here's a video that hopefully transfer you some of its serenity:

I walk back up the same "Arch",

and admire the local trees,

when the silence breaks from the sound of footsteps. I assume it's a couple of people so I prepare to nod if we meet. Well, to my surprise it's a couple of deer playing & chasing each other!

I only managed to shoot a video hence the frames above don't have good enough resolution to zoom enough but you can imagine my excitement. Here's the clip:

For that thing alone it definitely worth the visit.

There's countless trails around so I catch this one:

Then take the tarmac,

Only to catch the next one:

I hope this does partially justice for how tall these trees are:

As the bell from the local church starts to toll the scenery becomes hard to describe so here's a video:

I can walk these trails for days inside this green heaven which is so dense that doesn't allow even a single ray from the sun to hit the ground:

Back in the village,

Only to catch another trail at the end of this tarmac:

It's all about where you focus:

Ain't this sweet?

This part of the local water infrastructure is already 71 years old:

Either way I look, back or forth, I love it:

So do the bees - here's a slomo:

Why not, it's heaven:

Although with a bit of threatening clouds in the background:

Back at my place I try to schedule my next days but the very unstable weather doesn't help. Look how different the view of my balcony looks in the same hour:

Gotta cook and rest, see you on Episode 11!