The Hohwald is the creation of a woman; that is to say, the Hohwald of
holiday-makers, tourists and tired brain-workers. "Can you imagine,"
wrote M. Edmond About, forty years ago, "an inn at the world's end that
cost a hundred thousand francs in the building? I assure you the owner
will soon have recouped her outlay. She had not a centime to begin with,
this courageous lady, left a widow without resources, and a son to bring
up. The happy thought occurred to her of a summer resort in the heart of
these glorious woods, within easy reach of Strasburg." There are gardens
and reception-rooms in common, and here as at Gerardmer croquet, music
and the dance offer an extra attraction. It must be admitted that these
big family hotels, in attractive country places with prices adapted to
all travellers, have many advantages over our own seaside lodgings.
People get much more for their money, better food, better accommodation,
with agreeable society into the bargain, and a relief from the harass of
housekeeping. The children, too, find companionship, to the great relief
of parents and nursemaids.

The Hohwald proper is a tiny village numbering a few hundred souls,
situated in the midst of magnificent forests at the foot of the famous
Champ de Feu. This is a plateau on one of the loftiest summits of the
Vosges, and very curious from a geological point of view. To explore it
properly you must be a good pedestrian. Much, indeed, of the finest
scenery of these regions is beyond reach of travellers who cannot walk
five or six hours a day.

Any one, however, may drive to St. Odile, and St. Odile is the great
excursion of Alsace. Who cares a straw for the saint and her story now?
But all tourists must be grateful to the Bishop of Strasburg, who keeps a
comfortable little inn at the top of the mountain, and, beyond the
prohibition of meat on fast-days, smoking, noise and levity of manner on