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The Pfifferdaj, "day of the fife players", is one of Alsace's oldest and most colourful traditional festivals....
Alsatian wood carving draws its origins from the forest abundance of the Vosges and from a centuries-old farming...
Alsatian weaving, with its characteristic colourful check patterns and centuries-old textile craftsmanship,...
Betschdorf pottery - in reality stoneware rather than faience in the strict sense - is one of Alsace's most...
Since 1704, the village of Meisenthal has perpetuated the ancestral art of blown glass in the Vosges forest of...
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Created in 1989, the Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park is one of France's largest regional nature parks with its 3,000 km² spread across three former administrative regions - Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté - and four departments. This territorial scope makes it a protection and sustainable management area of exceptional richness, encompassing the entire High Vosges range, from the Donon in the north to the Ballon d'Alsace in the south.
The park takes its name from the famous ballons - those rounded, bare summits characteristic of the Vosges massif. The Grand Ballon, the Vosges' highest point at 1,424 metres, dominates the entire massif and offers spectacular views on clear days over the Alsatian plain, the German Black Forest and even the Alpine peaks.
The high pastures constitute one of France's most remarkable and rarest ecosystems. These vast high-altitude meadows, situated above the natural forest line, result from a fragile balance between harsh climatic conditions and ancestral pastoral practices. Without the summer grazing practised for centuries, these open spaces would gradually return to forest.
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The Vosges massif bears visible traces of the great glaciations that shaped its relief tens of thousands of years ago. The glacial lakes that dot the massif rank among the Vosges' most spectacular and most photographed natural sites.
Lac Blanc and Lac Noir, located close to one another in the Alsatian High Vosges, are the most famous of these glacial lakes. Lac Blanc, nestled in a spectacular rocky cirque, owes its name to the pale colour of its waters.
The Ballons des Vosges Park is home to remarkable wildlife. The capercaillie, an emblematic and threatened bird of the Vosges forests, finds one of its last French refuges in the park's most preserved areas. The chamois, successfully reintroduced into the massif in the mid-20th century, today populates the rocky areas and high pastures.
Souvenirs from Alsace
Decorative stork in resin and metal 35 cm
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Souvenirs from Alsace
Decorative stork in resin and metal 43 cm
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The altitude and floral richness of the high pastures and Vosges forests make the massif a high-quality beekeeping terroir. Fir honey, an emblematic Vosges speciality, is produced from honeydew - that sweet secretion produced by insects feeding on fir tree sap - rather than from flower nectar.
The best season to discover the park runs from May to October, with peak visits in July-August for the high pasture blooms and September-October for the spectacular autumn colours.
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Honey from Alsace
Alsace PGI All Flowers Honey
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