On arriving at the station in Pforzheim, you first need to walk around 2.5 km across the town to the inn at Kupferhammer where the Westweg, Mittelweg and Ostweg all begin. Pforzheim isn’t the prettiest town in Germany, but once you leave the rather ugly town centre, the path to the trail head leads through… Continue reading The Black Forest Mittelweg – Days 1 to 3
Author: myfootsteps12
The Black Forest Mittelweg
In the midst of these crazy times, after cancelling two long-distance hikes because of the pandemic, I’m finally setting off on another multi-day trail. The Paris region where I live in France is still on the German government’s list of risk areas, even though my village of just 200 people is 80 km out of… Continue reading The Black Forest Mittelweg
The Black Forest Westweg – Part One – Pforzheim to Hausach
The Black Forest in south-west Germany, just across the border from France, is criss-crossed by numerous hiking trails. Three major ones run north to south, the Westweg, the Mittelweg and the Ostweg. All three begin in Pforzheim and end, respectively, in Basel, Waldshut and Schaffhausen on the Rhine. The Westweg, with its 13 days of… Continue reading The Black Forest Westweg – Part One – Pforzheim to Hausach
GR 13 From Nemours to Souppes-sur-Loing
This second stage on the GR 13 is tougher than the first, relatively flat one from Moret-sur-Loing to Nemours, with 332 metres in positive elevation. After leaving the car at the station in St Pierre-Nemours (a huge, free parking lot), we crossed the town, via the castle, before heading uphill into the woods above Nemours.… Continue reading GR 13 From Nemours to Souppes-sur-Loing
GR13B from Moret to Nemours
It’s been years now since I hiked one of France’s GR paths, the long-distance hiking trails that crisscross the country in every region. Now that I am confined to France and unable to do my planned hikes in Germany, I have decided to do several stages of a local one, the GR 13B, that runs… Continue reading GR13B from Moret to Nemours
Misy-sur-Yonne loop
Hike number three in the book of a local hikes. We did this early on a Sunday morning. The first section along the river is pleasant enough. However, the second half is deadly boring on dirt tracks through fields and sparse forest land, with the high speed train creating a terrific din just a hundred… Continue reading Misy-sur-Yonne loop
Donnemarie-Dontilly and the Brie region’s mediaeval churches
A fantastic 18-km hike done on an early September day when the weather was absolutely perfect. From the pretty little town of Donnemarie-Dontilly, this hike takes in a number of small hamlets and villages, each one of which has its own church, some in a spectacular position, such as the church at Paroy on top… Continue reading Donnemarie-Dontilly and the Brie region’s mediaeval churches
Episy, la Genevraye and Cugny
Hike number 29 in the local book of hikes, done on the last Monday of August with an early start at 8:30 when the air was crisp and fresh after a long day of rain on the Sunday. A fairly easy hike, on mostly flat terrain, but with lots of new discoveries: a castle ringed… Continue reading Episy, la Genevraye and Cugny
Bourron-Marlotte to Nemours via Villiers-sous-Grez, the Dame Jouanne rocks and Larchant
On August 25th, we took the train from Moret, near where we live, to Bourron-Marlotte, two stops along the line. From the station in Bourron, we passed through a fairly wild section of the forest, with lots of fallen trees, that made a nice change from other carefully managed areas further north. After the small… Continue reading Bourron-Marlotte to Nemours via Villiers-sous-Grez, the Dame Jouanne rocks and Larchant
Rocher de la Combe, Mont Morillon, Rocher des Demoiselles, quarries and romance
A long, 19-km hike in a part of the forest that I had never seen before. A fairly difficult trail to follow as a lot of the paths are pretty overgrown, but this makes for a more adventurous atmosphere than on the other carefully maintained trails of the forest. The terrain was fairly undulating, with… Continue reading Rocher de la Combe, Mont Morillon, Rocher des Demoiselles, quarries and romance
Footsteps 