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  France 2009 - Across to the Swiss border

 

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Across France to the Swiss border

We crossed to Dieppe and after a night at Cleres, a typical Normandy town with half timbered buildings and a large chateau with a zoo in the park, we drove on back roads to Chartres and its magnificent cathedral. We discovered that the annual city centre illuminations had started so walked into the centre as it was getting dark. About twenty buildings were lit up with colourful projections, with the centre piece being the front of the cathedral which was illuminated with a moving sound and light experience and definitely not to be missed. The next day we walked to see the Maison Picassiette, an example of näive art, where we found, behind an ordinary suburban house, a garden and buildings decorated with mosaics made mostly from broken china, the work of Raymond Isidore, a local council worker between 1934 and 1964 (unfortunately photography wasn't allowed - link to website). We continued to the city centre to look at the cathedral and its superb stained glass windows and a wander around the old town. The next morning we headed east in heavy rain across more minor roads and the seemingly ubiquitous deviations due to road works, arriving  mid afternoon at Briare where an impressive aqueduct 662 metres long carries the the Canal Latéral à la Loire over the river. It was opened in 1896 and is still in use by leisure craft. After a walk across it on the tow paths we parked overnight in the car park with several other motorhomes. 

      Chartres - rose window
              Chartres - rose window
Chartres - night illuminations 1
Chartres - night illuminations

Chartres - night illuminations 2   

Chartres - night illuminations 3

Briare Aqueduct
Briare aqueduct

 Briare aqueduct across the Loire
Briare aqueduct across the Loire


Continuing eastwards we passed through St Fargeau and on to Druyes les Belles Fontaines in the Yonne Department which we had discovered many years ago. Unfortunately as it was much earlier in the year, the lack of flowers around the ponds gave the town a drab and neglected appearance. On to Vezelay where we parked in the large carpark on the edge of the town, and walked up to the basilica of St Mary Magdelen with its impressive Romanesque interior and decorated columns. This has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries although there were more school parties around than pilgrims.
Druyes la Belle Fontaine  Basilica at Vezelay  Vezelay - detail of column
   Druyes la Belle Fontaine                        Basilica at Vezelay                  detail of column 

From there we headed into the forests of  the Morvan Regional Park and another free night alongside Lac les Settons before driving to Autun, a busy town with a large central square and many grand buildings. Being a Saturday lunchtime it was easy to find a parking space by the town hall and take a stroll around the shops and to the cathedral. We then bypassed Beaune and Dole and arrived at Arbois in the Franche-Comte region just as the Tour de Jura cycle race was passing through. The town is famous for its jaune (yellow) wine and has an attractive arcaded square. Nearby is Louis Pasteur's home and laboratory which is open to visitors.

Autun - Hotel de Ville
Autun - Hotel de Ville
We decided to spend two nights at the campsite so the next day drove through wooded hilly countryside heading for Mount Poupet a viewpoint marked on the Michelin map but decided not to take the forest track to the top, so took more back roads through meadows to the River Loue and the restful Miroir de Scey which turned out to be a stop on the Gustave Courbet artist's trail. There were information boards with examples of his paintings here and at other locations such as the shady ravine of Puits Noir (black wells) which he painted fifty times - so I took  many photos in just a few minutes to capture the scene. He was born and lived in the nearby town of Ornans with its houses overhanging the river. Unfortunately the Courbet museum was just closing as we arrived at 4pm.


     Gustave Courbet trail information board

           Gustave Courbet trail information board

Miroir de Scey on the Gustave Courbet trail
Miroir de Scey on the Gustave Courbet trail

Courbet Trail - Ravine de Puits Noir
Ravine de Puits Noir

Ornans on the River Loue
Ornans on the River Loue

Ornans
Ornans

The next day we drove on faster roads to Pontarlier where we topped up our Gaslow LPG bottle (which was only half empty after 10 days of travelling), then turned off to the Source de la Loue where the river emerges from beneath a high cliff although it turned out to be a building site at present as the old bridge had been washed away. From there we headed east and took the narrow road which plunged into the deep blind valley of the Cirque de Consolation with its large former monastery buildings in a peaceful setting. A waymarked walk led us to the grand cascade which was unfortunately hardly a trickle. We drove on to the busy town of Villers le Lac where boat trips to the Saut (jump) de Doubs embark and discovered that purchase of a boat ticket at €11 was required to stay overnight (although we later found out there was another free aire in the town), so we returned to the peaceful Cirque de Consolation and parked overnight for €5.

Source de la Loue (and building site)
Source de la Loue (and building site)

Cirque de Consolation monastery
Cirque de Consolation monastery

Cirque de Consolation - the dry Grand Cascade
Cirque de Consolation - the dry Grand Cascade


After a peaceful night we went for another walk up to the cliffs then decided to head for Switzerland, crossing the border on a narrow minor road from Maîche. After we were waved through just showing our passports to the Swiss border guards we drove up steep wooded roads to the interesting town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, mostly blocks of flats built on a grid system as in the USA, and after buying a Swiss motorway vignette for 40 CHF drove along the northern shore of Lac Neuchâtel. 
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