The Grand Ballon is the highest summit in the Vosges, at 1,424 metres, and it looks nothing like a ballon in the way you would expect. The name comes from the rounded, treeless shape of the upper slopes, a smooth dome of grass and heather that stands above the forest like the back of a sleeping animal. A radar dome and a few masts sit on top, which spoil the symmetry, but the view makes up for that. On a clear day you can see over the Rhine plain to the Black Forest in Germany and, on the very best days, the white line of the Alps, including Mont Blanc, far to the south-east.
The road to the top is a short spur from the Route des Crêtes, a narrow, well-kept road with a handful of bends. The Route des Crêtes itself is one of the best ridge roads in Europe, running along the crest of the range with views alternating between Alsace and Lorraine. On the Grand Ballon, a monument to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French mountain infantry known as the Blue Devils, recalls the fighting that took place on these slopes. The mountains were hard-fought, and the peaks changed hands.
Weather here is serious. The summit is exposed, and the wind can be strong and cold even in summer, while fog can reduce visibility to a few metres in minutes. In winter the road is closed by snow and ice, and in spring and autumn it may be affected as well, so check before you set off. The best conditions are on settled, clear days in late spring, early summer or early autumn, and the best light is in the morning or toward evening. The upper slopes are covered in short mountain grass, bilberry and heather, with patches of beech and fir below. Chamois are sometimes seen on the slopes.
There are no facilities directly on the summit, though a hotel-restaurant near the top has historically served visitors, and the farm inns of the region, the marcairies, serve hearty food: smoked pork, potatoes and munster cheese. Guebwiller, about eight kilometres away in the valley, is the nearest large town for fuel, shops and cafés, and its vineyards produce Alsace wine, including grand cru wines from the slopes. Take a windproof layer and enjoy the height.