La Petite Pierre

May is the season for long weekends in Holland so with Hemelvart dag falling on a Thursday and with a day off work on the Friday we decided to go to Alsace, do some camping, follow the wine route, visit some castles, climb some hills, just be outdoors somewhere where the trees don’t grow in straigjht lines……… Well, as things turned out we never unpacked the tent, swapped the wine for Alsatian beer, and spent the whole time so far north we were practically in Germany. La Petit Pierre, a small town perched on the top of a mountain in the heart of the “Parc Naturel Regional des Voges du Nord” ended up being our first and last stop. Sorounded by forest La Petit Pierre is at the top of a mountain and the starting and finishing point for dozens of walks throughout the national park. All the walks end with a long steady climb upwards, pretty tough going when you’ve been living in flat Holland so long your legs go weak at the sight of a speed hump!