4-day hike in French-Swiss Jura
As a boyscout my cousin Hardy had walked the Swiss/French Jura trail together with his boy scout group. For 50 years or so he kept remembering this fun experience until finally three years ago he and his wife Irmi, their friends Helen and Uki decided to follow his foot tracks from so long ago. Not in one long stretch, but in stages. So now every year, for approximately nine years, he or Helen plan a stage that takes 3-5 days, every day a hike of 8-22km, until the entire trail has been walked beginning to end. Bill joined last year's walk and - like the rest of them - came back elated. This year's stage started at Les Bennets (the train station where we got off after taking 4 different trains from Freiburg, Germany), the end of last year's journey. This year's goal: Pontarlier.
Hardy, "the Motor"
From here we walked 8km up and down hill until we got to our first stop for the night,
Le Roches.
I think I can, I think I can...
A happy hiker (no more doubts about that heavy backpack...)
The evening meal, specially prepared by Virginie, the proprietress of the farm house, was shared with eight French people at the large table. We spoke French, English and with hand and feet. Two young guys were from Elsass and fortunately spoke the dialect we speak in Freiburg.
After dinner I found out that in the evenings the women play a game or two of serious scrabble under Hardy and Bill's watchful eyes and comments... Irmi and Helen who play in a Scrabble group once a month, are the unquestioned maestras.
One of the judges...
The next day the real hiking started. Helen, this year's planner (in blue), Hardy and Irmi.
Our "official photographer" with his newest gadget (the stand)
The tired hikers have reached the next place to stay... The cheerful owner Marie Helene instructs that boots go inside the door. Dinner at 8pm. At this lovely maison the six of us shared a room. Dinner was delicious: fondue made from three cheeses, salad from the garden, plus yummy cake for dessert.
Dessert:
We started walking on Wednesday and ended the hike on Saturday, but stayed one extra day to explore our destination, Pontalier. (For the real reason: please see below!)
Drying the wash
At the French/Swiss border: Bill is standing with one foot in France and one in Switzerland. Uki, second from left, is in Switzerland:
Early Saturday morning
Our typical lunch: bread, cheese, sausage, and water (and apples from Hardy and Irmi's garden!!)
Our destination:
Good-bye, Uki! She had to leave a day early to take care of her little granddaughter.
Pontarlier is a lovely town to visit:
Yours truly proud to have "made it"! My first tour with a big backpack that lasted more than two nights.
One of the reasons we had to stay a day longer: Pontarlier is the Absinthe capital of the world. So Saturday evening we........ went to the locar bar and...
Now, let's see if this is the real stuff? Helen as the tester:
she had drunk it in her youth when she visited Pontalier with a boyfriend:
Here the answer:
Cheers to all!
Barkeeper: You got the 40 proof. Do you want to try the 80?
(We decided to leave this decision for next year when we start our next hike at Pontarlier...)
Au Revoir, Jura hike!!! See you again next summer!
(Thank you, Hardy, Irmi and Bill for the photos!)
