GERMANY’S BLACK FOREST

Now, I have to admit that the sound of going into any forest at all, never mind a black one, did at first make me a little nervous. But I popped a Valium, packed my Louis Vuitton traveling cases, and called the car service. I am nothing if not a devoted employee, and ready now to travel wherever my assignments may lead.

Also, I'd been tipped off by my stylist at Helena Rubenstein that the Black Forest is so called not because it's dark and scary, but because of the dense areas of towering spruce trees. There's also plenty of open land, meadows dotted with flowers and all that hilly, sun-soaked scenery you would expect in Germany.

The town of Furtwangen, despite its rather clunky name, is known for the curative effects of its climate, so I figured I'd be right at home there, or at least closer to home than tromping around in some jungle. Perhaps there's a spa...

Furtwangen is high up there, at 870 meters, in the heart of the Black Forest. If you were to climb up the highest mountain there, Brend, you'd come to a tower from which you can see the Alps.

And the walking paths are indeed lovely there. It's mild, and dry, and refreshingly lovely.

Of course, I wasn't there just to admire the scenery and sing songs from "Heidi" and "The Sound of Music" as I went out for my daily constitutional. I was on assignment, after all, and quickly my investigative skills took me to the German Clock Museum in the town of Furtwangen, where I was able to read up on the history of clocks in the Black Forest. Too bad I was too early for the biggest exhibition of antique clocks held in Europe, which happens every August.

It turns out that in the middle of the 18th century the Black Forest was a hotbed of clockmaking.

When you think of German clocks, chances are you think of cuckoo clocks, and you'd be right. The village of Schonwalk, near Tiberg, was where the first cuckoo clock was designed and made, by Franz Anton Ketterer. Using a small bellows system, Ketterer was able to make a sound that sounded similar to the cuckoo's call.

During the long winters in the Black Forest, of which we can only shudder to think (no central heat, no Pashima shawl, no steaming latte) the residents took to making cuckoo clocks, carving them with elaborate designs while the snow swirled outside.

Human inventiveness knows no bounds, and in the 19th century the artisans added a tiny cuckoo bird which popped out of the clock's gable, only adding to the clocks' charm and popularity.

While you're trekking along the "clock trail" – the route taken long ago by the clock peddlers during the summer months – it's certainly worth making a stop in Triberg, with the country's highest waterfall and over 200 km of hiking trails, all of them nicely marked. After a hike you can have a healthful meal with a nice bottle of Baden wine, and begin to feel restored again.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to end your trip to the Black Forest with a stay at Baden-Baden, the world-famous, fabulously luxe resort and spa. Here, you can enjoy looking at the huge mansions owned by Europe's royalty, and breathe in the healthful high-altitude air while you decide which clock you'll give to Uncle Horace.

In fact, the Black Forest is so civilized and lovely that I'm beginning to dream up a few reasons to open a Designer Monthly outpost there.

Memo to Powers That Be: Forward my check to P.Cash, Baden-Baden.

Reprinted with permission from the Sheffield School of Design www.sheffield.edu