the end of a love affair

Disturbing news reached us ... so we disappeared for a few days. One of our favourite guesthouses is unexpectedly closing down at the end of the month.  So we booked three nights, grabbed our suitcases and drove to the Northern Vosges in France to enjoy great food in good company surrounded by art; walks through the forest and have a last look at one of my favourite ruins in the area :
le Vieux Windstein.

Most of the hand built walls are gone, but I'm fascinated by the carvings in the rock.  Stairs, doorways, windows, passages, rooms, countless holes for the beams of ceilings and floors, locks,...

I simply can't get enough of this one ...  great sculpture ... land-art.

I would visit these ruins a few times a day as the colours keep on changing in the different light.
These two pictures were taken at an interval of 5 months but on approximately the same time in the morning and in different weather conditions.

The morning of our departure we went up one of the hills to look for the 'Wassersteine' or 'water-stones'.  I could not leave this place without leaving a - temporary - mark in the landscape.

View the history of le Vieux Windstein HERE

The charming guesthouse 'Auberge de la Faveur' is ceasing business in its present form.  The artist-owners have other projects that need their whole attention.

A new name, a new owner and a new chef will definitely change the arty atmosphere we liked so much ... we say farewell to Windstein.

But to remember the good times, view the previous posts - a peek into the different rooms, the art all through the house and two studio visits -  write 'Auberge de la Faveur' in the 'search this blog' on top right of page.