Up or Down ?

So today's  pictures were taken this morning at the Chateau du Haut Kœnigsbourg in Bas-Rhin.

The question in the title relates to the first picture more than the second and I wonder can you tell whether I was looking up or down?

It isn't immediately obvious but I was in fact looking 62 metres down an old well, where water was hoisted from a cistern below. I wouldn't have wanted that job.

The second picture you can see shows the exterior of the Chateau taken from one of the towers. The Chateau is a medieval fortress perched on top of a hill 2000 feet above sea level, about 1300 feet above the valley below. In the distance lies the river Rhine and the border with Germany while behind and out of the picture stands the Ballon des Vosges a range of mountains I would love to explore. I was here several years ago and would love to retrace some of that visit and find new wonders in the forests and mountains.

This truly is a beautiful area of France and possibly my favourite part of the trip. Certainly if I could have spent more time in just one of our stops along the way this would be my choice without any hesitation.

Sadly time has run out for us and tomorrow morning we will start on the journey home, a journey of around 700 miles. That's a lot of ground to cover in one day but with the occasional break and refreshments en route we'll be just fine.Out