Hike in the Vosges!

(Spring in Gerardmer)

(Everything in bloom and my allergies are having a field day)

The end is near... so I have to live it up as much as possible in these next two weeks!

This weekend we had a choir concert, which was nice. Our choir is quite horrible. Most of the members are over 60 years of age... and to listen to a soprano section that is over 60 is NOT pleasant. But they are a joyful bunch and sing more for the social aspect that it brings. And I am sure only 1% of them actually read music. No matter, the concert had a pretty good showing and even with more than a few mishaps we gave a good performance. (However, if we ever sang like that in any of my former groups... ouch)

Sunday Charlene, Mathieu and I decided to hike one of the highest points in the Vosges- the Hohneck. Situated right on the border of Alsace and Lorraine, it's a beautiful mountain reaching 1363 meters. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, warm, breezy- the perfect day to hike! We weren't too sure about which trails to take, so we just went with the flow, arriving quite quickly to the summit, which was still covered in a bit of snow. Among the snow patches were the famous jonquilles (daffodils), which will be making their grand presentation this weekend at the daffodil festival.

(Charlene, Mathieu and I at the beginning of the hike)

(Charlene, Mathieu and I at the top- behind us is Alsace)

We were hoping to stop at an auberge on the trail to have lunch. Les auberges usually have fresh, homemade products (cheese, smoked meat, fresh milk, etc) and local delicacies, but we were out of luck and the one we passed wasn't open- probably too early in the season...

(View of the auberge from up top)

The hike ended with a windy way back up the mountain with many steep drops down. Quite a day! Exhausting, but so perfectly relaxing. In those moments everything was good- no worries. Have to remember that feeling more often!

(At the end of the hike, Col de la Schlucht Alt 1139 m)

(After hike snack: tarte flambee with munster cheese and salami sandwich!)

The past week I've been going to the schools to which I give video conferences to proctor the English evaluation for the oldest kids. It's been a challenge trying to get them to talk- especially because the only English they had were our 20 minute sessions over Skype. Not too conducive to speaking English! I made one little boy cry, he was just so nervous and panicked because he couldn't find his words. But my other school was much better and it was clear that the teacher put a much bigger emphasis on trying to teach English outside of my sessions with the kids. It was so rewarding to see them confidently asking and responding to questions in English! A job well done.

(field of daffodils right behind the high school aka our back yard)