We had to go to the very end of the shining valley before beginning the ascent to the crests, passing Wesserling, situated so charmingly on its eminence in the ancient moraine, commanding the valley from both ways. Once upon a time the Château of Wesserling belonged to Prince Löwenstein, Abbot of Murbach, the history of the great Abbey of Murbach being closely bound up with that of these valleys, for Charlemagne gave to the first abbot, St.-Pyrmin, the whole country of the Thur, with St.-Amarin and Thann and all the lesser towns. In the eighteenth century the Abbey was converted into a noble Chapter with residence, and a big new church, at Guebwiller, now in German hands. But the Chapter had a short life there, and probably not a gay one, and during the Revolution it was suppressed. The vineyards round about have been renowned since time immemorial, and on Guebwiller’s southern slopes there is a wine celebrated even among the most celebrated of Alsace, which enlivens without making noisy, and inspires without depressing (evidently what the juice of the grape was meant to do when the vine grew on the first hillsides of the world). It is called “_Kitterle brisemollets_” (“Kitterle break your calves”), those whom it delights evidently not journeying far, except in fancy. A great book could be written about the wines of Alsace, the soft, gleaming, light-colored wines of this land of sunny slopes, which may become even as a Mecca for pilgrims arriving “dry” from over the seas. In fact, quite a delightful perspective opens itself out. From Wolxheim comes a wine, once the favorite of Napoleon, which was always found on the imperial table. There are the wines of Rouffach, “home town” of the husband of Madame Sans-Gêne; of Kaisersberg, known fashionably and pertinently as “Montlibre” for a short space during the Revolution, and by the “Rang” of Thann; Alsatians once swore, “_Que le Rang te heurte!_” (“May the Rang strike you!”) There is, too, an exceptional, ancient, red vintage called “_Sang des Turcs_,” whose name recalls the twilight days of Turkish invasions and Soliman the Great.