Reachable via ancient mule trails, these centuries-old farms-turned-inns serve some of France's most historic cheeses and offer a glimpse at the nation's pastoral past. I'd been hiking for five hours and a fine, freezing rain had just begun to fall. Some years, I've been told, May in eastern France's Vosges mountain s can be almost aestival; others, it's stormy and frigid.
Distant cow bells interrupted the near-silence, and I unfolded my waterlogged map, peering at a small dot that was rendered real as I climbed a hill and finally glimpsed a long stone building whose red roof stood out against the rolling green hills, its windows glowing with promised warmth. I had reached Rothenbrunnen , a ferme-auberge (farm-inn) typical of these verdant pastures, and my home for the night. While European farm stays have become increasingly popular in the past few decades, the mountaintop fermes-auberges here in the Alsace region near the German border stand out: not only are they some of France's oldest, dating to the 1800s, but they are linked by a series of well-marked trails leading hikers like me directly to their doorsteps.
After a day of trekking along the grassy slopes and taking in breathtaking bucolic views of dark pine forests and red-roofed houses in the valleys below, these rustic inns provide travellers with a traditional repas marcaire (dairy farmer's meal) featuring farm-made charcuterie and cheese – and, if they wish, a bed for the night. The presence of marcaires (dairy .
