Protecting the Comté

This is part of the outer fortifications of the Fort des Rousses, built in the early nineteen century to house the military. Within the walls are various formal buildings, all appearing to be in extremely good order & nowadays housing various businesses. One of the businesses is Juraflore, a cheesemaker, which matures its produce in the massive underground system - & yes, there was a distinctive odour as we went past - our spaniel was very excited!

The Fort wasn't strictly on today's route but we walked around it anyway, then picked up the main track which led down through the forest to the River Chaille. It's amazing how spectacular a fall you can get from a very small river (see extra). After that it was across meadows with hazy views to the mountains on the Swiss side of the border, including La Dôle, recognisable by its rader dome for aircraft control, to the border village of La Cure, then back. We did venture as far as the summit of La Dôle when we were here 10 years ago, but that was in the spring when the most memorable features of that walk were the wild flower meadows as we ascended - & the view to Lake Geneva below!