JURA

Long views across green valleys this morning. Start easy with a 500-meter descent to the Doubs river and discover the hidden medieval village of St. Ursanne.

Stop here for a walk through town so that you can see it all: churches, chapels, cloister, castle, hermitage and stone bridges. This ancient architecture is dressed-up every summer for a week-long medieval celebration.

Linger with a coffee and pastry or perhaps even an early lunch. But go easy, there is a long 500 meter climb out of this valley.

Afterwards we’re off to the town of Courgenay and its open plains. Although the region is still desolate, there have been settlements here since the Neolithic Period and the municipality is very proud of its Roman ruins. Still, history never stops , and Courgenay is now well-known for precision engineering and manufacturing vending machines !

It’s then off to Lucelle, our last French-speaking town before changing to German. Lucelle is right on the border with France and you will follow its river which makes up the border between the two countries.

We’ve got another 45 kilometers before Basel. Notice how the path changes from forests and pastures to villages and then to city outskirts before finally reaching the city center. After four nights of chirping crickets and slow-moving cows, we hope that Basel’s wide streets and city smells will be a welcome change.

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