Girsberg Castle
22 May 2018
We crossed a fairly short trail and came to the second castle - Château du Girsberg. Apparently once called Petit-Ribeaupierre as the small castle of the Lords of Ribeaupierre, who they gave to their vassal knights. The castle itself is mostly gone, with just the wall from a large tower ruin remaining, but you can still see the way it was built into the dominating rock face along the mountain. Very stunning!
The real draw of Girsberg however is the spectacular view of Saint-Ulrich. It was one thing to stand within the castle and look at the rooms and walls, but a very different thing to see it from the Girsberg viewpoint. We took many of the pictures used in the Saint-Ulrich story from the vantage point of Girsberg. Of course just the same, many pictures of Girsberg were taken from the walls of Saint-Ulrich. The castles are connected, both in history and in their viewpoints.
A local legend involving these castles called “The Legend of the Mortal Arrow” tells the tale of two brothers, one living in each castle. They decided on one evening that they should go hunting the next morning, and whoever woke first would shoot an arrow to the shutters of the other’s window to wake them for the hunt. Guess there wasn’t really a better way? As the story goes, the brother from Saint-Ulrich was the first to wake, but not by long. He shot his arrow toward the window in Girsberg just as the other brother opened his shutters. The arrow struck him in the chest and he was killed instantly. I guess I won’t complain about my alarm clock just making an annoying beep!
There is a third castle on the hill, Château du Haut-Ribeaupierre. It is the oldest castle dating back to around 1080, and possibly even standing on the site of a much older Roman ruin! We have heard that it is very much in ruins and overgrown, the sun was fast making its way toward the horizon, and we had a good bit of a walk back to the car, so we decided to skip that one. Maybe someday we’ll be back, and you know what? We’ll take the easier trail then!
It would have been nice to just take the close trail now that would drop us back to our hotel, which would have been possible had we not left the car by the other trailhead. So, back past the monastery we must go! We hiked through woods again, this time without the surreal buzzing. I saw a flash of color in front of me as jogger was coming up the trail and totally startled us! Amazing how the sound works in these woods, as just that flash of her purple top was the only way we knew she was there because we heard absolutely nothing. She was beautiful, but unlike the fairy tales from these parts, she just continued on her way from our chance meeting in the forest without looping us in to any woodland adventures or magic spells or romantic happily-ever-afters. I have to say though, after our long hike up the mountain,to just see her jog up like no big deal was impressive. We need to get in better shape! An active lifestyle seems totally ingrained in people here, and not just younger ones like her, as it is common to see even the elderly scaling a steep mountain hike with their Nordic Poles in hand. It is truly a culture of get up and go and of keeping fit even into the later years. They aren’t just sitting at home in front of the TV, that’s for sure, and it’s a bit humbling to be huffing and puffing up a trail and see her just jog by or a seventy year old guy trek past you.
Of course, if your jog is taking you past striking monasteries and millennia-old castles, I’m sure that adds a good dose of motivation to get up and go!
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