Monday 6 August 2018
| Distance (km) | 23 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 7.5 hrs | |||
| Climb / Descent | 730m / 780m | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 20% / 70% | |||
| Landscape |
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| Weather |
 →  28° 1 Bft
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We knew the moment was coming that we had to do a 3-days sections in the Jura that cannot be solved using public transport. If we would have been in good physical shape camping could have been an option, but considering we hardly walked this year carrying around full camping gear is not an option. So....hotels it is. It already starts on Sunday 5 August, because we have to put the car so far (in time, not in distance) that it'll take several hours to get back to the starting point and if we then still have to walk 6-7 hours we'll arrive in the dark. So we pack everything on Sunday morning and drive to La Cure on the French-Swiss border where we park the car just on the French side of the border behind the bus stop. We walk to the railway station on the Swiss side of the border to wait for the bus. This whole summer there are no trains to La Cure due to railroad works, but the bus is on time and we're on our way back. The bus doesn't replace the train all the way to Nyon; we have to change from bus to train in Alzier from where the train bring us to Nyon. We have to wait half an hour in Nyon for the train in the direction of Lausanne so we decide to buy a sandwich and a drink. Again, the train is nice on time and a few stops and 35 minutes later we are in Renens, close to Lausanne. Again we have to transfer here and again we have to wait, almost 45 minutes this time, for the train to Vallorbe. It's almost an hour to Vallorbe, not so much because of the distance but more because the train stops at almost any farmhouse it passes. But we get there ... In Vallorbe we call the taxi (I had informed in advance to make sure there are really taxis there) to bring us to Jougne. Jougne? Yep...there is no hotel in Les Hôpitaux-Neufs and the only hotel open in summer in Metabief was full so the closest we could get arranged was hotel La Couronne in Jougne. The taxi arrives and so we start the last part of the roundtrip. We have to cross the border back into France and to our surprise we're stopped by the French police. They want to know who we are and why we want to go into France. So I explain in my best French what we're doing today and the policeman looks at me like "this story is too weird to be a lie" and we're granted entry in France. It's really the first time I'm checked going from Switzerland into France, usually it's the other way around. I mention it to the taxi driver and his only comment is "maybe they're afraid you're smuggling cheese". Ok. Anyway, 6 kms and 32 euros later we are in the hotel, 4 hours after we left our car in La Cure. Next morning we join breakfast and try to leave as soon as we can. Considering breakfast was at the earliest 7:30 we won't be able to leave really early and so it is close to 8:30 when we walk out of the hotel. We already decided not to go to Les Hôpitaux-Neufs to pick up the GR5 where we left it, but shortcut from Jougne to the GR5. Well, actually longcut, since it's further from Jougne than from Les Hôpitaux-Neufs. We walk through the village and pass over the N57, after which the road goes immediately steep up leaving the last houses behind us. It keeps climbing until some lonely trees before levelling through the fields. We have no markers to follow and only the good-old map to show us where to go. We enter the woods and at a small cabin where the main trail turns right we go straight ahead. It rolls up and down and when we enter a small pasture we see a car moving on what seems to be a small road. That should be the GR5, and indeed it is! The first bit until the luge track is still nice and not too steep, but from there on it goes seriously up through the woods over a rocky path where it is hard in times to keep equilibrium. We have an intermediate stop to take a photo on a small tarmac road (the photo is a good excuse for a break) and then it goes steeply up again until we get back into the open following underneath a ski lift. From one can see the end station of the ski lift, but it still feels quite high. Nevertheless it is not so hard anymore from here and without too much problems we get to the top of the Morond where we sit down next to the ski lift to have a bite. From here we can also see the summit of the Mont d'Or, the highest point of the Jura section of the GR5. And from here it doesn't look too bad. After we cooled down we get on our feet again and we immediately have to descend. From the Morond it goes steeply down over one of those loose-gravel-tracks that we so not like. We have to go down about 80m vertical to arrive at a small lake. From here it goes up again, but in fact quite gentle. We follow the ridge of the Mont d'Or to the summit, or actually the first of the 3 summits. The GR5 doesn't go all the way up, but we can't resist the 200m detour to the first summit and so we do. The Mont d'Or is a funny mountain, or better: it's half a mountain. The French side is a gentle green slope going up, while the Swiss side is a vertical rock cliff going down. So it's easy to get up from France and the views over Switzerland are spectacular. Unfortunately there is not a single bit of wind and the summit counts more flies than tourist, so we decide to leave again instead of having a break with a view. Leaving the car park means passing through a group of cows. Not dangerous, but quite smelly. We now follow the tarmac access road of the Mont d'Or to descend and after a while we split of into the fields. It's still quite steep and the field is very irregular so we have to be carefull not to hurt any ankles or knees. And from here on it is a very enjoyable walk through some woods and some open spots and pastures. We're completely on our own and apart from an occasional farmhouse it feels a bit remote. We do hear grumbling thunder on our left but the shower seems to pass very slowly behind us and apart from a few drops nothing happens. At Les Granges Raguin we pass a small buvette (tiny bar just for drinks) and since Lupita could use a toilet we decide to stop. The menu says they have ice cream so we can't resist and both have a ball of lemon and a ball of raspberry sorbet. We're the only people in the buvette but the owner doesn't seem to be too bothered by that. It is almost a pity to leave again, but Mouthe is waiting for us. About half an hour walking further on we have another close encounter with cows. As we are following a track we pass a small open spot in the forest and we can already hear from the bells that there are cows somewhere. Suddenly they come around the curve ahead of us; 10-12 cows walking the same track as we do and coming closer. I don't like to walk in between them as you never know if one in its clumsyness makes a funny move and hurts me, but there is not much space on neither side of the path to pass them. So we decide to step aside on the hill side of the path in between some brushwood. Of course all cows pass, but there is always one curious. It approaches and sticks its big wet nose in Lupita's direction who is clearly not amuased. A simple hiss is enough; the cow looks at me in utter surprise and decides to walk on. Lupita is still a bit in shock to have been eye-to-eye with a 700 kg cow but we can move on again. And so we pass anothe farm, and another one, and another. It's not boring, it's very enjoyable but just not very spectacular. With a final stairs we descend to the source of the Doubs river, and there is water coming out! We know that further downstream the Doubs is completely dry, but at least here there is water. We take a few pictures though we have been here before in 2011. We really want to get to our B&&B now so we walk the last km along the river into Mouthe and to our overnight stay. The landlady is very friendly and our room is small but clean. Fortunately the B&&B is straight across a pizzeria that also has some great non-pizza dishes as we find out in the evening. |
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