We were taken aback to be told when we checked in last night that the hotel restaurant would be closed tonight and the wifi was likely to go down because the hotel would be full. In fact, we were the only guests at breakfast this morning and the hotel still appears to be quite empty. Anyway, the demi-pension supper last night was very good, with more locally farmed trout cooked in lots of butter and every course well presented. Breakfast was also good, and all the better for being taken late and at leisure.

As ever on a rest day we spent the morning sorting out laundry and repairs, before heading back into town for lunch in the main square where we’d spotted several promising looking restaurants on the way through yesterday.

A nice salad made with fresh local produce and demi carafe of local rose wine and we were replete. Time to find the tourist office to get our pilgrim passports stamped and find out what was going on with the onward path. We had been told by our Icelandic friends yesterday that a pilgrim walking ahead of them had reported that due to a rock fall some of the next day’s path had become impassible and pilgrims were having to take the bus for part of the route.

The very helpful young woman in the tourist office confirmed that following a big storm last week there has been several landslides between Bovernier and Sembrancher which have taken out the VF path. The train service has been restored, though she wasn’t sure whether this is by way of a bus replacement service. Either way, the advertised service for tomorrow leaves Bovernier hourly on the hour for Sembrancher. And as this is Switzerland we can be sure it will run exactly to time! We were given a very helpful topographic map which gives us a much better idea of our route than the ordinary two dimensional map.

We then dropped into the church nearby which is catholic, with much guilding around the altar contrasting with the simpler protestant churches we’ve seen.

By complete contrast, further up the road we passed a much smaller modern evangelical protestant church (or Temple as they’re described here) with very striking stained glass imagery.

Next door there are remains of the Roman occupation of this area, which was a key trading route across the Alps and therefore strategically important for Julius Caesar. We later realised there is also a Roman forum here, and other important archaeological sites across the town. Another addition to our list for a future visit.

We were actually heading to see an exhibition of the work of renowned black-and-white photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson who had links with the local Gianadda family. The Pierre Gianadda Foundation runs a Gallo-Roman museum, a museum of vintage cars, a sculpture park, and a hall that is used for classical music concerts as well as art exhibitions. We only had time to look at the photographs and classic cars this visit, but the list of concerts looked very interesting with several internationally known artistes due to perform here over the next year. We haven’t dared check how much the tickets would cost.

Back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta, and then an early supper at a nearby restaurant rounded off our rest day.

At last, a shorter day! This set of 5 days walking since our last rest day in Orbe has been very physically demanding, with three long days and one excessively long day, so we’re very much looking forward to a shorter walk today and doing very little tomorrow.

Filled rolls and oranges bought, we walked up through the centre, past the railway station, over the railway, and out of town onto the lower part of the hillside beyond.

There is a narrow strip of sloping ground each side of the flat valley before the sides rise steeply to the peaks towering above, part wooded and part cultivated, with small villages all along the valley bottom and others clinging to the higher slopes above. Meanwhile, the main transportation routes cut up through the middle beside the Rhone, providing a constant hum of traffic and intermittent rumble of trains.

Most of today was spent ambling through farmland and woodland, past fruit orchards, around the back of industrial areas, and through villages, well away from the main road. We were mostly on well defined paths which were flat or gently rising with the occasional steeper section. It was reasonably easy walking; much if it was in shade and we had a stiff breeze blowing from behind us. Ahead of us was the draw of the conical mountain we’d seen from way down the lake and all the way up this long valley.

Late morning we passed around the back of a large chemical works owned by Siegfried, which we later discovered is a Swiss based international company manufacturing for the pharmaceutical industry. It employs 3637 people at 11 sites worldwide, 343 of them here in Evonniaz. There is an odd juxtaposition of heavy industry and pristine mountains in this valley and we wondered what steps are taken to keep Lac Leman’s waters as clear and clean as they appear to be.

Soon after this it was lunchtime and we found a seat in the shade with a wonderful view of the mountains to our left. We’ve noticed that in Switzerland there are many more seats along footpaths than there were in France, often placed just where you would want a rest or to spend a while admiring the view.

Whilst waiting for our lunch to digest and Julie’s feet and socks to dry out (a daily lunchtime ritual to prevent blisters) we noticed a very pretty insect on the ground. We have no idea what it is, but would be interested to find out – do any of our readers know? It looks a bit like a helicopter when flying, with wings whirring. Tom initially thought it was a hornet, but we don’t think so having seen it close up.

In the next village we walked past a fruiting monkey puzzle tree and ripening kiwi fruit on the vine, and we’d seen orchards of apricots, cherries and other soft fruits during the day. Not to mention vineyards on every possible slope, and on impossible-looking slopes, all along the valley. It is amazing what can be grown in a continental summer with little apparent effort, though sometimes with the help of irrigation.

As we walked through the village we were struck by the modern architecture of the church and decided to try the door. We have done this so often only to be disappointed, but this time we were in luck. We think the church is reformed, not catholic, but couldn’t be sure. Either way it was pleasingly light and simple inside, with a relief of Jesus the carpenter beside the front door.

The next kilometre or so took us alongside the busy main road which was pretty unpleasant with lots of traffic hammering by, but we were soon able to take a side road into Mieville with its charming old houses and the ubiquitous lavoir decorated with red geraniums. Just beyond the village a spectacular waterfall tumbles off the mountainside, and fortuitously our path took us to the bottom of it.

After another stretch walking in the woods we came out into fields and then walked along the fence behind a hydroelectric power plant, before diving back into woodland again. The contrast between pristine mountain scenery and heavy industry couldn’t be more stark than here.

During the day we’d passed and been passed by another couple of pilgrims several times. Stopping to chat, we discovered that Oli is a retired geologist, specialist in glaciology, and Inga a working botanist, both from Reykjavik in Iceland. Tom enjoyed comparing notes about the then controversial theory of plate tectonics when they were both undergraduates. Oli told us about the Russian geologists working in Iceland during the USSR years who were required to subscribe to the old theories by the State whilst their practical experience was telling them that plate tectonics made much more sense.

After a few more kilometres in woodland we emerged at the back of another hydroelectric power station, and then joined one of the roads into Martigny for the last stretch of today’s walk.

First we had to cross the old wooden bridge over the river Dranse, rebuilt in 1829 with the later addition of footways in 1948. Apparently the idea of covering the bridge is so that when it snows the bridge doesn’t ice up due to the cold air beneath it, allowing horses and cars to cross safely in winter. These sorts of bridges are quite common in Canada. Here we bade farewell to our Icelandic friends who are continuing up the valley tomorrow whilst we will have a rest day in Martigny.

Unfortunately our hotel turned out to be at the other end of town – always a blow at the end of the day – but we will probably be glad to avoid starting with tramping urban pavements when we resume our walk in two days time.

The hotel restaurant produced one of the best meals we have had so far, with an entree of smoked perch salad followed by rainbow trout cooked in butter. Both perch and trout were farmed locally. We slept very well. After breakfast we followed the road down through extensive vineyards into Aigle, which will be hosting the Tour du France on Sunday. Again, we’re relieved that we will be higher up the valley by then.

After buying some filled rolls for lunch we headed back into the vineyards, passing by the striking Chateau which now houses a museum about wine making. Another addition to our list for a future visit. On the way to the Chateau we were passing the church when a very nice lady driving by stopped to enquire about our pilgrimage and proudly told us she had been christened, baptised, and married in that church. She urged us to have a look inside, but sadly it was locked.

Winding our way up through the vineyards we could hear a train screeching away across the valley and were amazed to see the steepness of the slope it was descending, slowly and carefully. Very impressive engineering and probably pretty skilled driving too.

We could have continued to walk up the valley on the flat road, which would have been easy but boring. Instead, we took a path which headed steeply up onto a wooded spur and then contoured around it. Approaching a col part way up we were again amazed to hear a train grinding up the hill towards us, cross our track, and then disappear around a tight bend taking it even higher. We waved as it passed and the driver responded with a friendly toot.

Although the uphill climb was long and steep, we were rewarded with wonderful views over the valley far below through occasional gaps in the trees. From high up you got a sense of how wide and flat the valley is, and a good overview of its use for communications, agriculture, and a range of industries. We later discovered that what looked like large blue lakes from on high were in fact acres of netted fruit orchards when you got down close. Part way along the high level path we met an elderly lady striding along who must have been at least a decade older than us, probably more. She was very encouraging and declared our pilgrimage “magnifique”!

The only problem with gaining all that height was that we then had to descend all the way down to the bottom again, snake and ladder like, slithering down rooted dirt paths through the woods and then a precipitous concrete track down through vineyards. Wonderful views but very hard on the toes and knees. Thank goodness for walking poles to take some of the strain.

Ollon seemed to be a very sleepy village so we walked on through and joined a minor road contouring along the hillside through the woods rather than losing any more hard-won height to go down to the village centre. One of the issues for us has been the routing of paths for apparent commercial reasons rather than the walker’s ease of passage, so we don’t hesitate to ignore detours which look pointless for us and only serve to lengthen our days.

A roadside log in the woods served as seat for our lunch in the shade. At the next village of Antagnes we replenished our water bottles and then struggled to find the onwards path. It turned out to be a well disguised tiny and steep path down through the vineyards with a very small sign notifying its location.

From Antagnes our route took us back down to the valley floor and across to the west side along an avenue of trees astride a steeply engineered river. It is quite extraordinary how the Swiss have opted to straighten these hillside rivers and deliver the water as quickly as possible to the valley bottom. This practice is very much contrary to modern flood management where the strategy is rather to slow down the delivery of water such that it is more manageable. However one has to respect the Swiss engineers. They’ve been doing a pretty good job for hundreds of years!

On the south side of the valley we met the River Rhone. Goodness, what a surprise we found! The river was in fair spate and white with suspended sediment. No clear mountain stream here, but the aftermath of recent storms in the mountains.

For several kilometres we followed a tarmac road up the riverbank designated for cyclists and walkers. We have learned that we are expected to keep right to avoid cyclists suddenly coming up behind us without warning. Easy but rather tedious walking.

Eventually, at Massongex, we crossed to the other bank and followed a similarly tarmac’d road alongside the river. As there were fewer trees at least the monotony was relieved by clearer views of the mountains ahead.

Having discussed the potential for canoeing on the river we were amused to see a sign, more or less in the middle of nowhere, declaring that boating on the river is forbidden. We assume this is because the numerous hydroelectric schemes on the river may discharge surges of water at any time without warning, though that explanation was not offered. Even in today’s conditions the river looked quite challenging unless you were content to be swept downstream and fast.

Crossing the local railway line again, we passed around the imposing chateau of St Maurice to find the town itself tucked away behind a spur jutting from the mountainside, completely hidden from view from lower down the valley. As you pass around the chateau the valley widens out again to reveal a sizeable town and railway station.

St Maurice has an active monastery based in its Abbaye, which was founded in 515 and built on the site of a first century BC Roman shrine to the god Mercury. For several hundred years the monastery was known for its 24/7 psalmody – continuous singing of psalms by several choirs in rotation. Since 1125 there have been canons regular living by the rule of St Augustine, and this continues today with some 40 canons in residence under an Abbot appointed by the Pope. Unfortunately we were too late arriving to visit the abbaye so that too is on our list for a future trip as it is one of the most important national heritage sites in Switzerland.

We found our billet at the Hotellerie Franciscaine tucked away behind the main street. The accommodation is plain and simple but perfectly adequate. No TV in bedrooms – bliss! Simple meals are provided and we enjoyed discussion over supper with a tour guide leading a group of German-speaking tourists who had been to the Abbaye and were going to walk the last stretch up to the Grand St Bernard pass tomorrow. They will be taken up there by bus, which we regard as cheating!

Highlights of the day were the wonderful views from the hillside in the morning, appreciating the feat of engineering which enables Swiss trains to reach places never intended for them, and the surprise of St Maurice completely hidden from view behind its chateau.

We were still quite tired this morning, despite having a quiet room at the back of the hotel, and slow getting going. First task was to find somewhere to have breakfast, and we settled on a cafe across the square. We also needed food for lunch and went in search of boulangerie and supermarket, both not far away.

Heading straight to the lakeside we encountered a statue to the memory of Charlie Chaplin who spent the last 25 years of his life living here with his second wife and family.

Meanwhile, on the lake we watched in some amazement a woman on a board with a hydrofoil skeg just skimming across the water by rhythmically extending and retracting her legs. It looked very energetic!

The morning was spent walking along the lake front, with lovely gardens and flowerbeds beside the path, meandering around small bays and headlands towards Montreux where the international jazz and music festival is in full flow, happily coinciding with the Tour de France coming through in a few days time. There was a holiday atmosphere, and many different nationalities enjoying the beauty of Montreux’s lakeside setting and its mountain backdrop. Sadly, here too that natural beauty is slightly marred by over development with large blocks of flats and new buildings still going up.

All along the front there were music venues, food and drink stalls, and stalls selling clothes, jewellery, potions, artworks, and all sorts of other things people might buy whilst relaxing on holiday.

As we were leaving Montreux we were stopped by two young American women: one living in Geneva, the other in Berlin. They’d seen the banners on our rucksacks and wanted to know all about what we were doing. Further on we passed the Chateau Chatillon, an impressive medieval fortification on a spur on the lake. The paddle boats which ply the lake’s ports from Lausanne to Villeneuve, where we were heading next, also stop off here.

A short distance further and we were into the urban sprawl that is Villeneuve, at the top end of the lake. From here we turned inland to start our way up the Rhone valley towards the Grand Saint Bernard pass and over into Italy.

The Rhone valley here is wide and almost flat. It has been a key transportation route between southern and central Europe since early times. The basic infrastructure was installed on the orders of Napoleon, and it has served Switzerland well ever since. There are main roads and international rail routes, as well as smaller roads and local trains plying up and down the valley, which is therefore quite noisy.

In between all the transport links are wide swathes of arable and horticultural land, growing a wide range of crops, as well as yet more vineyards clinging to the hillsides, and numerous industrial facilities. An extensive waste processing plant and digester was processing a range of waste streams from garden and food waste to paper and plastic.

Crossing over the railway shortly before Aigle we took one last look up the valley and then tackled the final uphill walk to get to Yvorne, a pretty village on the lower slopes of the valley surrounded by vineyards.

We found our billet on a hillside in the middle of the village and settled down to relax on the front terrace with an aperitif and excellent supper. We can recommend the local wines, though you’ll have to come here to drink them as almost no Swiss wine is exported!

Cheseaux appears to be a dormitory for Lausanne, and is not a very interesting place, either to walk in and out of, or to be in. But our chambre d’hote was very comfortable and we had a quiet room at the back. Unfortunately supper wasn’t available as it was the hosts’ night off but we were able to totter across the road to a handy restaurant. We sat in the garden watching the thunderstorms passing by each side of us, relieved not to get soaked again.

A trip to the boulangerie next door for tuna rolls and we were all set for the long day ahead, which turned out to be a bit of an unintended marathon compounded by navigational challenges through the extended urban area of Lausanne.

The initial stage, after getting clear of main roads, took us up onto Le Mont above Lausanne, which is rolling arable and horticultural land giving occasional glimpses of Lac Leman. Soon it took us uphill into another forest, the Bois de Vernand Dessus. Where the forest gave way to farmland we found rhubarb being grown on a field scale, along with extensive potato growing and farms selling direct.

From Le Grand Mont required a degree of navigational skill heading south towards Lausanne as we were off any recognised VF route and needed to negotiate both a motorway and a deep craggy gorge. Getting the wrong side of the gorge would have resulted in a significant detour from even a reasonably direct route. Matters were further confused by several large scale construction projects with associated deviations.

Descending into the gorge at the best place to cross it we found a pitiful little stream, Le Flon, depleted of flow but with a major sewer pipe running down its bed!

For most of the way into Lausanne we were able to walk through a sequence of green areas, but there was then a long stretch of walking on pavements to get into the centre and out the other side. We were rewarded with occasional glimpses of the lake between the trees far below us.

Our route took us near the cathedral so we wound our way through the cobbled streets to call in and enjoy a few minutes of quiet, enjoy the cool ambiance and get our pilgrim passports stamped. Like our Anglican churches this cathedral was subject to the Reformation and so is much less decorated with imagery than many of the Catholic cathedrals we’ve visited through France. However, we were a bit surprised to see national flags hanging over the altar.

Outside, the area was buzzing with activity, with people setting up areas for live music and refreshment stalls. We eventually worked out that there is a festival about to start linked to the Tour du France passing through Lausanne in a few days time. That realisation made us check the route and timings of the Tour. We were relieved to find that by chance we will be further on before the Tour comes through the places we’re heading for. There are already signs up about extensive road closures and detours which would significantly inconvenience us as walkers. Although we’d seen signs about the Tour passing through Bar-sur-Aube in July when we were there in late April it hadn’t occurred to us to check the route, so we’re lucky!

Descending from the old centre of Lausanne around the cathedral we tramped through commercial and residential areas, heading for the side of the lake, which we then followed for the rest of the day.

Sometimes we were walking alongside main roads, and some of the time on tracks through the extensive vineyards which hug the steep hillsides on terraces all along the lakeside. At intervals along the lake there are small harbours interspersed with beaches where there were people swimming and sunbathing. The lake water is comfortably warm, and a swim was very tempting but for lack of suitable clothing and time. Ahead we could see the end of the lake, and behind that the Alps rising to the far horizon. Somewhere up there is the Grand Saint Bernard pass we will have to climb up to, but today it was in cloud and we couldn’t make it out just yet.

Once we were passed the extended urban sprawl, the path took us from village to village, and we began to get views back towards Lausanne as well as onwards to the end of the lake. Cully was particularly attractive, with winding cobbled streets, interesting shops, and a wonderful lakeside setting – mental note for a return visit.

It is quite staggering how much of the north side of Lac Leman is given over to vineyards. They are highly engineered with terraces, concrete roadways (frequently elevated on trestles) and extraordinarily steep drainage systems. Switzerland produces close to a million hectalitres of wine per year and this is one of the most productive areas. So why don’t we know anything about Swiss wine? Not even the Wine Society lists any Swiss wine. The reason is that apparently all but 2% is consumed within Switzerland!

Time was slipping past and it was already looking like we’d be in Vevey, where our next lodgings were, after 8pm.

So, delightful as walking through the vineyards was, we decided to drop down onto the road and take the more direct route.

Vevey turned out not quite the El Dorado we’d been hoping for. The overdevelopment of the lakeside is dominated by the obscenity of multiple stories of glass and concrete which is the Nestle headquarters.

We finally arrived at our lodgings after 8pm, tired and hungry after some 38km of walking – our longest day so far! There then proceeded a ridiculous debate with the Pakistani proprietor over his insistence that we hand him our passports to photocopy and pay for our room up-front. Was this another example of backpacker prejudice?

Our hotel supper that night did little justice to the delightful Pakistani food we’ve frequently enjoyed in similar establishments, despite the hugely inflated price. At least we managed to get our laundry done.

Yesterday we were joined by two other pilgrims Robert and Marc from Amersfoort in the Netherlands, the first we’ve encountered and been able to share our experiences with, which was lovely. Overnight we had a huge thunderstorm with torrential rain which seemed to go on for most of the night. It cooled the air, but the forecast was for more thunderstorms today.

With the spectacular landscape of the Loue and Orbe Gorges so recent in our memories, it was always going to be tough for today’s walk to match. And so it was.

We left the town of Orbe by the Grand Pont, which lived up to its name carrying the road high above the river. As we dropped off the hill, so typical of such ancient cities, the modern raison d’etre became apparent as the huge Nestle factory and other industrial units came into view. Nestle also has a retail shop, but lacking extra carrying capacity we walked on by.

Our route took us east to Chavornay along a busy road with much lorry traffic. Fortunately there was a separate cycle path for us to walk on. The valley here is wide, flat and fertile as demonstrated by the variety of crops including wheat, barley, potatoes, chard(?) and some sort of fodder root. Sadly, the Rivers Orbe and Talent have been engineered into dead straight channels here, presumably to improve drainage – and dead and lifeless they appeared, draining the land down to Lake Neuchatel.

Chavornay was pretty uninteresting apart from a 1918 peace memorial in some pretty gardens. From here we turned south eastwards and up into the wooded hills following the River Talent upstream. First we passed underneath a spectacular viaduct carrying the motorway overhead. High up on the adjacent slopes are vineyards, but of which varietal we know not.

The River Talent, even here, is highly engineered with multiple weirs and micro-hydrogeneration units. Following last night’s rain the river was high and coloured. We passed an interesting looking organic vegetable garden (BioSuisse), which seemed quite extensive, with a number of people at work.

Onward, a stiff climb through the woods up onto the ridge, where we found our lunch stop at Goemoens le Jux. The village lavoir provided the best shade even if the stone floor was a tad hard (and cold) for a lunchtime nap.

Woken by an approaching thunderstorm, we made a rapid exit to try to get east of it as fast as possible. But we failed.

Sitting, or standing, out the grandmother of all thunderstorms, we shared what shelter there was with a group of highland cattle for an hour or more while the storm raged around us. The adjacent stream turned from a trickle into a raging torrent in minutes, while we pondered the potential failure of the culverted road crossing holding back the stormwater. Hailstones the size of marbles were hurled at us, as if to punish us for something we know not what……

Storm over, we headed south to Saint Barthelemy where we found a comfortable bus shelter to stop in, dry out and sort ourselves out. Bus shelters in Switzerland seem to have good seating, whilst in France there were no seats for weary passing walkers, not even the perches that have become fashionable in the UK.

Further on southwards, we meandered through more arable farmland, with much the same crops as earlier in the day, plus sunflowers looking bedraggled after the storm. We knew how they felt. On the way into the next village of Bioley-Orjutaz, there were extensive earthworks going on, with a long line of dumper trucks waiting for we weren’t sure what and several big diggers moving earth over an area of several acres. We couldn’t work out whether it was a large landfill site or a quarry being refilled, or something else entirely, and there were no signs to give us any clues.

In Bioley-Orjutaz the tiny reformed church built by the confraternity in 1903 was deconsecrated in 2005 and handed over to the village community. It wasn’t clear how it is now used, but it looked well maintained. The kind man sweeping up the lime tree debris outside the church offered to move aside to allow Julie to take a photo, though she didn’t have the heart to ask him to move his van which is what was really spoiling the picture.

Once through the village, another short stretch of walking on a minor road through woodland brought us into the village of Etagnieres which has an industrial area as well as a railway station. We began to get a sense of closeness to the city of Lausanne which we will have to cross tomorrow. In Etagnieres there were large building works going on with two big cranes being used. In fact we’d noticed earlier in the day that cranes were being used for building work in other villages, but then many of the houses are three or four storeys high and very large, often in multiple occupation.

We were able to skirt round the edge of Etagnieres to avoid walking on a busy main road, and then crossed over the main road to walk into the centre of Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, our destination for the day. We arrived at our chambre d’hote with a sense of relief that we’d managed to miss another thunderstorm which we’d been watching brew up not far away.

Scenically today was a bit frustrating in that there were no big views, just fairly flat rolling arable farmland and dramatic skies, but the walk up the river Talent from Chavornay was very pleasant and the villages were pretty. It is noticeable that property here is generally better maintained than in France, although with the tidiness there is perhaps less rustic charm.

Our landlord recommended a Japanese restaurant for supper last night, though it was probably more accurately described as asiatic, but it turned out to be pretty good. We got a bit lost getting to it, but from the old city walls could see the expansive industrial area around the old town. The biggest employer here is Nestle, and there are other factories too.

On the horizon we had a clear and unmistakable view of Mont Blanc well covered in snow. Though still some way ahead, the Alps now begin to feel within our reach. If all goes to plan, we should be in the mountains within a week, with a massive climb up to the Grand Saint Bernard pass and over into Italy. An exciting, if daunting, prospect!

Unfortunately there were two bars across the road from our billet which stayed open late and reopened early for the market traders, so our sleep was more curtailed than we’d have liked for a rest day. Nonetheless we took the opportunity to stay in bed until late and then wandered out to find a boulangerie to buy breakfast.

Laundry done – with the luxury of a washing machine and dryer! – we went in search of a nice lunch followed by the additional luxury of a siesta. We find ourselves completely exhausted on our rest days, as if our bodies have had enough of the challenge of walking all day every day.

Our other main task today was to sort out our onwards route which, with multiple choices suggested by different guides, require forward planning to avoid unnecessary detours or overly long days. At least this time we don’t need to worry about finding accommodation – just whether they will try to cancel at the last minute, as happened at Mouthier.

We didn’t get to explore Orbe today as our priority was to rest and do as little walking as possible, but we’ll add it to the list of nice looking places to return to another time.

AU REVOIR LA FRANCE, BIENVENUE LA SWISSE!

Today, after 45 days walking in France, we crossed the frontier into Switzerland. Two countries done; two countries to go!

Secondly, according to our calculations, Jougne marks the half way point of our total journey from Salisbury to Rome – 1210km of our estimated 2420km total distance to walk! Wow, what a lot of effort to be just half way.

Our hotel in Jougne turned out to be a very fortunate choice. The recommended pilgrim hotel was fully booked and since it’s on the main road, with frequent heavy lorries passing in and out of Switzerland, it would have been noisy. Instead, we had a lovely view of the hills behind the village and an excellent supper of trout a meunière.

Close to the hotel is the Mairie and a memorial to those lost in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars. One family lost 11 members during 1914-18, and one member of the next generation in 1939-45. A, presumably, later addition of a schoolboy reading the list of names from the steps brings the memorial alive.

Dropping down from Jougne we soon arrived at the ancient Chapelle St Maurice: a C12th building built over a C9th crypt. Unbelievably this too was closed and locked, despite apparently huge amounts of money having been spent on its restoration.

Once at the valley bottom, it was a short walk via the hamlet of Les Echampes to the border. The frontier itself was a rather low-key affair with little more than a signpost and a marker stone. There were no border guards, gates or even welcome signs! Just a few stacks of firewood and a derelict looking fence.

There was no obvious change as we walked up the road into Switzerland and the first village of Ballaigues, save possibly that the condition of the road surface was a little better. Once in Ballaigues the route took us past the church, referred to here as Le Temple, but just as in France it was firmly locked against marauding pilgrims!

We learned from an information board outside the church that the Swiss churches were reformed, leaving the Catholic Church and rule of the Popes, from the 1520s onwards. It was this religious rift which had set the border where it is today because the people of Jougne opted to remain catholic.

A steep descent by road and then an even steeper woodland path took us down under the impressive road viaduct to the river Orbe at the very bottom of the valley. Adjacent to a fishing club hut we found a lovely picnic spot by the river, evidently well used as there was even a litter bin. This is clean and tidy Switzerland after all!

The next few kilometres of the path followed the true right bank of the river as it tumbled down through a long gorge, the path high above the river, at times supported on balconies or passing through tunnels bored into projecting spurs of rock. It was as spectacular as the Gorges de Nouialles above Mouthier we saw a couple of days ago, but much easier walking on a well defined path through drier mixed deciduous woodland, as opposed to picking our way amongst tree roots and damp ferns.

At Les Clees the river is briefly in more open country, with pastures rolling away each side. It was here that we were excited to see our first chamois, which seemed as surprised to see us as we were to see it, pausing several moments to stare before bounding away.

Back into the gorge on a woodland path beside the river, we had a choice of routes, either to climb gradually up the right bank or cross and climb steeply up the left bank. We opted to cross a bridge to the left bank and then climbed steeply to the top of the gorge to walk alongside the top of the escarpment.

At the end of the gorge there is a hydroelectric power station and, rather than detour to another village – in effect walking three sides of a rectangle – we were able to take a more direct narrow path beside the enormous pipeline which serves the power station.

A little further on, through fields with cows and a couple of donkeys, we came to the edge of Orbe, passing around a sports area – complete with small groups of teenagers bonding whilst each communed with their mobile phone!

Up a final steep hill, and we were into the old town where a brocante market was in full swing. We wound our way through the stalls and people doing lots of looking but no apparent buying, to find our accommodation at the far end of the market, in a first floor apartment located in the old priory.

Highlights of the day? Crossing from our second into our third country. Completing half of the overall walk from Salisbury to Rome. Enjoying the last of the Jura, both the rolling hills and the very beautiful Gorge d’Orbe. Seeing our first chamois. All in all, it has been a significant landmark day!

Thankfully tomorrow is a much-needed rest day, as the last five days walking have been tough and we’re feeling pretty exhausted.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There was still no sign of anyone running the hotel this morning, and therefore no chance of getting breakfast, so we returned to the epicerie for coffee and croissants. Stuart then left us to walk up over the hill into the adjacent valley where the railway will take him to Dijon to pick up the TGV back to Paris and then Eurostar onwards to London. We were sad to see him go, but really pleased that he’d made such a big effort to join us and share our experiences.

Today we spent the morning climbing up along the sides of the Gorges de Noialles above Mouthier, walking in the shade of the trees, with a precipitous drop straight down to the tumbling river far below and an occasional glimpse of the limestone crags far above. It was spectacular!

At the top of the gorge there is a hydroelectric dam, and just above that the the main source of the river tumbles out of a cave in the rocks. All around, and on the way up, EDF has erected warning signs about the dangers of going into the water and being careful on the path. Despite all the warnings, we saw many more walkers today – probably more than on the whole walk so far – so this area is evidently heavily used for recreation. One of the walkers we met described it as the eighth wonder of the world, and we could understand why.

After a short stop for water and orange juice at the cafe near the dam we walked on to find somewhere we could sit to eat our filled rolls and oranges. We found a nice mossy bank under some trees with a view across the valley. The guidebook suggested we go up over a hill and back down, but we decided to stay on the road as we still had a long way to go. We later realised, looking back at the view, that by doing so we’d missed a chapel perched on top of the hill, but it was probably closed anyway!

Leaving behind the village of Ouhans, we then faced a fairly steep climb of 300 metres to traverse the ridge and reach a plateau beyond. Looking back we could see the limestone cliffs at the top of the gorge, and views down into other valleys.

On the way up we came upon a well hidden hunting cabin with a wonderful view. The veranda was stocked with comfortable chairs, so we took a rest, admired the view, and made sure to put the chairs back as we found them. We hope the owner didn’t mind our brief intrusion.

As we carried on upwards through the trees, all around us thunderstorms were gathering, and we could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Unfortunately one of the storms caught up with us part way through the area of forest around the top of the hillside. The rain bucketed down, with large hailstones, and the thunder crashed. We scrambled to get into waterproofs and decided to huddle under some of the smaller trees, reckoning that statistically it was more likely any lightening strikes would hit the bigger more prominent trees. We threw our metal walking poles on the ground away from us to feel a bit safer.

Fortunately the storm only lasted about 20 minutes and the conifers provided pretty good shelter so we didn’t get soaked through. Of course the path was then very wet, running little rivers of water in places and slippery with mud, so we had to be careful as we pressed on up the hill and descended a short way through forest the other side.

Not long afterwards we were clear of forest and out onto a large rolling plateau – not a place to get caught out in a thunderstorm, so we’d been relatively lucky with our timing. There would have been nowhere to take shelter had we been quicker and out on the plateau when the storm hit.

As we crossed the plateau we could see thunderstorms gathering around us again, but fortunately they were blown away from us by the wind and we were able just to enjoy the dramatic skies. Eventually we descended into the Doubs valley in which Pontarlier, our day’s destination, is located. The Doubs is the same river as that at Besancon. The pastures of cattle continued right up to the edge of a large commercial zone spread across the valley in front of us.

As is often the way, we get a first glimpse of our destination and fool ourselves that we’re nearly there, when in fact we still have many kilometres to cover. Today was one of those. We first passed through the satellite village of Vuillecin, where the church was open but locked up against the likes of us going inside. Why bother?

We then had a long trudge along busy roads to get to Pontalier itself. Meanwhile, the storm clouds were gathering again, and this time we did get soaked as there was wind blowing the rain into our right shoulders. And rain trickling down our legs into our boots and seeping upwards into our shorts….not much fun, especially at this stage of the day.

The entrance gate to the centre of Pontarlier is quite impressive, even in the rain….and our accommodation at the youth hostel was just around the corner, so handy for going into the centre to find some supper once we’d showered and changed into clean dry clothes. We were relieved to be given a room on the back away from traffic noise and the rampaging children over-excited about being away from home!

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly walking up through the Gorges de Noialles, which was just wonderful. The most spectacular landscape we’ve experienced so far.