If there's one sure thing you can do around here, it's HIKING. I was supposed to be traveling for a race this weekend, but since it got cancelled, I spent a nice weekend here in the Vosges. I've only been hiking a few times, but each time, it just gets better and better. And all this time I was so fixated on being in a city! I'm hoping this doesn't change for the worse once the snow really sets in, or after I've been here for more than just a couple months. Either way, there are enough trails in and around Gerardmer to last me a very long time. During the first couple of weeks, Imanta, Charlene and I began to wander through the forest just around the lake, as it was the closest and the most accesible.This one alone is incredibly beautiful and picturesque, especially on a sunny day. 
Although I was surrounded by mountains in Pennsylvania, I never really seized the opportuniy to explore them, save for a few times during senior year. Not that I had much time for this then! So, what better time than now to make up for it. It's the "dead" month now, when the weather is generally pretty grey, it gets dark particularly early, and there are no tourists whatsoever. This weekend though, I was lucky enough to have specks of sun and a friendly teacher who wanted to take me along to "les Cretes," where we hiked for a good 4 hours. These mountians separate Lorraine from Alsace, and on a good day, you can see all the way to the Swiss Alps. It was a little hazy, but you could see a faint outline in the distance. We walked up to one of the highest points, "Hohneck," and then made our way down the side of the mountain and back up through a woodsy trail which ended in a snowy paradise. It had just snowed the night before, so everything looked pretty and fresh. There is supposed to be more snow next week, so hopefully I'll be up and skiing in no time :) Who says you can't have fun in the sticks!
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