_____ For nearly every photographer, some photos cost a lot more than others, not in terms of money, but in the effort the picture hunter made, in order to catch his prey, his most cherished photo, of which he will be immensely proud ! From the moment I parked and locked my car, put on my hiking shoes, slipped on my rucksack, and checked the water level of my hiking hydration bladder, it took me ...'f-o-u-r'... hours of intense and relentless continuous climbing sometimes very steep climbing ,through alpine forests and rocky formations, four hours of intense sweating and hydration in the middle of August, wondering why the heck that monarch had decided to get this royal hunting lodge built while he wasn't fond himself of hunting ! , four full hours to reach my destination.
....And then, after four hours of continuous climbing I reached King Ludwig II of Bayern's Royal Hunting Lodge, otherwise known as 'King's House on Schachen', ...out of breath but so happy, not because of the peculiar architecture of the building, but by the all-round view of the Alps that the location of the lodge gave, to the few visitors of the place...I decided on visiting the lodge, expecting something zany or literally insane, bearing in mind why the cherished King of the Bavarian people had been put under arrest one day and made a prisoner in his own Kingdom, but the visit of the groundfloor was quite typical of any visit of a hunting lodge: modestly furnished, modestly decorated, without the royal grandeur of Neuschwanstein, Linderhof or Herrenchiemsee castles. I was wondering, a little perplexed, where the well-known extravangaza of Ludwig was hiding...
....But when the guide said to us:' Mind your head and your steps, and follow me!', I noticed a very narrow spiral staircase; we had to squeeze and climb it up one by one, and I started hearing the 'oh' and 'my God' words of astonishment of those ahead of me : the first floor of the Royal Hunting Lodge is a replica of the main hall of an Ottoman palace from Istanbul, with gorgeous tapestry, Turkish comfortable divans, translucent veiling, Ottoman-style stained glass (to hide the view from the Alps!), a real jacuzzi in the middle of the room and superbly decorated nargilehs!...There it was at long last, the zaniness of the good Bavarian king I love and respect so much. From 'Schachen', you can also catch a glimpse of the highest moutain of Germany, the Zugspitze.
....This is for you, Virginie, thinking you'll be surprised by the photo and the secret destination of my late Summer holidays. Schachen is such a beautiful place to be, in the Bavarian Alps. Es lebe Bayern !
....Thank you so much for your words of support for my previous Indian pic, and have a nice weekend.