DAY 69 – PONTARLIER TO JOUGNE

We managed to find a restaurant for supper not too far away from the youth hostel last night. As it was still drizzling we were glad not to have to walk far. Overnight it rained so heavily we were woken by the sound of drumming on the metal roof above our room. In the morning it was still raining lightly, but the rain had eased by the time we left.

A quick trip to the boulangerie across the road for filled sandwiches and to the supermarket for oranges and we were all set for the day. The lady in the boulangerie was very interested in our walk, and how we had crossed the Channel in view of the antics of P&O Ferries. She had moved here from Le Touquet only a few months ago. She told us that many locals, including her husband, travel into Switzerland for work as jobs there pay better than in France.

We were soon on a path between river and railway heading southwards out of town, with one of the main roads to Switzerland across the other side of the river, all routes funnelling in parallel up the Doubs valley. In fact, we spent most of the day following a railway line which made for a more direct and well contoured route, far easier than the official VF route and historically closer to Siguric’s route.

At our intended river crossing we found the road bridge removed and being rebuilt, but we were able to get onto the railway bridge instead. Curiously in France there are many signs about the dangers of going onto active railway lines, but little or nothing to prevent you from doing so. Anyway, we were glad not to have to go back to find another crossing point.

The onwards path followed the pretty river Doubs, before entering a small hamlet beneath the impressive looking Fort de Jeux which we contoured around rather than taking our lives in our hands to walk along the main national route from Pontarlier into Switzerland.

A tricky steep path down into Les Angles brought us onto the disused railway line which we then followed for most of the day, gradually gaining height to pass through into the next valley and doing our best to ignore the noise of heavy traffic thundering along the nearby N57.

Looking back to Fort de Jeux at the start of the track along an old railway line

After many kilometres of dirt track we came across work going on to reinstate the line, with some very wobbly looking bent rails poorly bedded down and old wagons loaded up with sections of rusty track fixed to old wooden sleepers, presumably awaiting reinstallation.

Why do people have to graffiti old trains?

Further on still we walked past a station with a poster confirming that this is indeed a project to reinstate a tourist railway between Pontarlier and Vallorbe. It looks like there is still a huge amount of work to be done, and we wondered how the section closer to Pontarlier would work as the old line seems to have been obliterated or built over beyond where we’d joined it.

At around 1000 metres height we emerged into another valley, and left the railway line, striking off in a more easterly direction towards our destination of Jougne.

We had to negotiate a couple of busy roundabouts and an underpass to get to the other side of the N67, but we were then on minor roads leading through the villages of Les Hopitaux-Vieux and Les Hopitaux-Neufs. Both looked prosperous and well maintained, with many very large 3-storey chalets and all with solid metal roofs and wide overhangs. Between Les Hopitaux-Neufs and Jougne we crossed another watershed, between rivers flowing to the North Sea and south to the Mediterranean.

As we headed into Jougne we passed a vehicle recovery yard with a couple of very mangled cars and realised they were the reason for traffic being diverted through Les Hopitaux-Neufs, which had been jammed up, and the sirens we had heard on the motorway above us as we went through the underpass. We hoped the occupants were in better condition than their cars.

Jougne’s lavoir

We found our hotel in the centre of the village adjacent to the church, with lovely views of the hills around. This is a skiing area in the winter – at least, it is when there is adequate snow this low down as Jougne sits at only 1000 metres. The hotel proprietor told us that there is a skiing season here from mid-January to mid-March, but they now rely more on summer trade than they did in the past.

The church looks well maintained with a lot of new lead on its roof and tower!

It’s difficult to pinpoint particular highlights of today. Tom would say seeing the lovely river Doubs was one of them, but the whole day was very pleasant with some glorious views of expansive lush green valleys and wooded hills which look more and more alpine.

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