Jura Day 20

Our accommodation for last night was past the start of today’s stage.  We had two options: a steep climb to get us onto the stage and then walk along the ridge, or walk along the valley and then gradually make our way up to the ridge.  We decided on the second option.  We left the hotel and walked along the valley on a mixture of quiet roads and a couple of busy sections.  We were on one of the quiet roads when we passed a number of buildings.  One had double fences, security cameras everywhere, massive vehicle barriers, and apparently no windows in the building.  We were discussing what sort of security complex this was, when we saw the sign at the main gate; it was the Cartier watch factory.  A short distance on we stopped in the village of Motiers for a cake and coffee.  This village has museums of cars, aboriginal art, another that we couldn’t work out, a theatre, and numerous absinthe producers.  There was also the Bovet watch workshop (prices up to $1 million).  After our very good cakes, we finally started to climb.  There were plenty of people and families about, presumably having taken an extra day after yesterday’s holiday.  The forest path climbed slowly upwards and we made good time.  The path then narrowed and we climbed hundreds of steps, until we finally arrived at the start of a narrow gorge.  The path here had been built in 1942 and comprised bridges, stairways, and bits of path going round narrow ledges.  There were handrails at the worst bits.  We worked our way up, occasionally having to retreat to a ”passing place” if we met people descending.  It was spectacular and we finally reached the top and were back onto wide forest paths.  We finally cleared the trees into open meadow, still continuing upwards.  The next bit of excitement was having to go through a gate in one of the many electric fences, only to have an entire herd of cows making their way along the same section.  We chose a gap in the herd and walked through, then round the large group to get to the next gate.  From there it was a short walk to finally gain the ridge, with spectacular views of the whole of the Alps, with not a cloud in sight.  Even Mont Blanc didn’t have its usual hat of clouds.  We stopped at a small restaurant for a piece of tart and a drink.  We walked to the top of Le Chasseron and admired the view; the transmitter of a few days ago, now over 50km away to our east, the hills and valleys to the north, and the lakes and plain to the south, then the huge chain of the Alps stretching as far we could see along the southern horizon.  From there, it was 5 minutes  downhill to the hotel.  We had a cheese fondue for dinner (excellent) and spent most of the meal trying to work out the last time we had one.  (We were given two fondue sets as wedding presents!)