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France, Hiking, Nutshell

Circuit du Vignoble: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Circuit du Vignoble (Bike), Circuit de Piémont (Hike)

Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit trail; well-maintained, with almost exclusively paved or hard-packed surfaces throughout, marking on the trail not always easily discerned

Length: 10.1 kilometers/6 miles

Convenient to: Selestat, Alsace, France

Marking:

Green circle outline on a white background (hike); Yellow (or orange) triangle (pointing to direction of travel) with two yellow (or orange) wheels, indicates a bike-able trail itinerary, though not clear whether this one or not. Note too, this sign indicates villages and distances to them. With so many trails (and signs) in this area, the issue is finding consistent marking to follow for a specific trail.

Signage Options

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France, Hiking

Lavender and Purple Grapes

 

Provence produces purples in abundance. From the different varietals of red (actually dark purple colored) grapes grown in the region, to the fields of lavender. Color abounds, and not just in the fields!  The vibrant blues and yellows of tableware and dining linens, the luscious deep reds of the wines, the green of the olive oils are all visible in markets throughout the region.

Provencal Table Linens

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Grignan Les Adhemar

 

What I Learned

There are many wine appellations along or near the Rhone River, as it drains much of central and south -eastern France.

The title appellation, Grignan les Adhemar, was formerly known as Coteaux du Tricastin. But negative associations arising from the nearby Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant disaster in July 2008, resulted in the local vintners applying for an appellation name change. Thus, by late 2010, the appellation forming a triangle from Grignan in the east, and Saint Paul Trois Chateaux and Montelimar in the west became known as Grignan les Adhemar.

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Biking, France, Hiking, Nutshell

Vignes et Cabanes: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Des Vignes et Cabanes

Trail Type: Short-distance circuit (for hiking and biking); well-maintained and almost exclusively paved or hard-packed surfaces; marking on the trail fairly good. See comments below.

Length: 8.95 kilometers/5.5 miles

Convenient to: Montelimar, France

Marking: Either VTT 1, or just 1

Signage for the Bike and Hike Trail

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Germany, Hiking

A Great Hike in Bad Koesen

 

My second trip to the Saale-Unstrut wine region, following my disastrous first trip (see here), occurred in the middle of January. My destination this time was the Weinbergsweg circuit trail. This hike proved a great, easy, family-friendly, circuit trail through vineyards, town and wooded areas, following along the Saale River as it circles through and around Bad Koesen in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

I began my hike by following the river. It was a lazy, but very scenic stretch along the Saale. This section also had several pubs and taverns, with outdoor seating overlooking the river. Ideal for a lovely summer afternoon or evening, but usually not available in winter. Vineyards were on the left, and flat, alluvial fields on the right.

Saale River

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Saale-Unstrut

 

What I Learned

Vineyards have grown along the Saale and Unstrut rivers for over 1000 years now, from a modest start at Memleben Abbey in 998 A.D.. Vines now cover about 770 hectares in the Saale-Unstrut Region. The vineyard landscape is characterized by hills of shell limestone and variegated sandstone soils, often terraced, contained in places by centuries-old dry-stone walls. Sited on the 51st degree of latitude, it is the northernmost designated quality wine region in Germany. In spite of its northerly position, it receives more sunshine than Trier, in the Moselle wine region but less than Freiburg, in the southern Baden wine region in the Rhine River Valley.

The Saale Unstrut region extends over three German states: Saxony-Anhalt (639 hectares), Thuringia (108 hectares), and a real northern outlier in Brandenburg (by Potsdam) (8.4 hectares).  No other German wine region covers such a number of German states.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Weinbergsweg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Weinbergsweg

Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit; well-maintained and much of it paved; marking on the trail good

Length:

Total – 10.2 kilometers/6 miles

Convenient to: Bad Koesen (see comments below), or Naumburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Marking:

Rectangular signs with green background and white lettering “Weinbergsweg” Below is an older version of the signage, still found in places, and the feature photograph above displays the newer signage.

Older Sign for Weinbergsweg

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