Traveling X

Walking Back in Rain and Rainbows 

From the town we took a roundabout way to get back to the villa. I liked the landscaping in front of this chalet. 

Despite plastic animals 

The fish were quite real.

So was the rainbow. 

Traveling IX

In the Town

From the start of the Industrial Revolution to now, this town has had its chief industry in making tobacco products. The town has existed though for a very long time. Some of the old farmsteads by the church were actually fortified farms from before the Thirty Years War in the first half of the 1600’s. They had high walls and moats and defenses. Subsequently they were modified when those were no longer need, but vestiges remain.

The local church has an interesting history, having started as a simple single-nave-and-steeple structure, then evolving into a cruciform with a bigger nave added perpendicular to the old, and several additions in height added to the steeple, which appears like it is not finished even now, but may still grow.

The part facing us here is the new nave. The old is behind it. 

Pretty flower arrays grace all Swiss towns in the summer.

The once-chief-watering hole, where all the factory workers gathered after work, now sadly empty.

And - finally - I got to see some of the horses native to this region, Freibergers. 

Then it threatened to rain. Heavy rains had been forecast for all week, but we were blessed with perfect weather for our hike, so having held off that long, we didn’t mind.

Traveling VIII

The Rest of the Forest and Orange Creatures

Shortly after the wood sculptures ended, we came to some buildings. We read that they used to be a Swiss military post to look over the border and spy on the Germans in France during the War. We were right at the border. The area is now a Forsthaus for outdoor events, picnics, and such. 

The watch tower.

One of the grill areas.

Otherwise noted in the French form (elsewhere on the trail):

The next half of the Forest trail was simply a path through the trees, a great to joy to heart of a Michigander. These paths  though are major factors better than any paths I had in the woods growing up. 

It was somewhat marred by the infestation of large, bright orange slugs from the recent rains. (You can see them in some of the previous posts’ pictures.) I have never seen such a bright color in those critters. 

Eventually the trail meandered past what was once a labyrinth……

…. And then down to the town. 

To be continued.

Traveling VII

More Forest Walk

After the Forest creatures came the storybook characters.

One of Snow White’s seven dwarves

The lady herself 

And the witchiest witch 

And the charming Prince, who might be having a heart attack having seen the witch (or felt her emanations behind him). 

Tim (this story might be less known in the Americas)

….and his dog Struppy

And the doctor from the Tim story

Sorry about this blurry picture, but the figure was one of my favorites. I don’t know what story it goes with.

Then there was a series from Asterix…..

…. and Obelix, who apparently ate so much he needed new feet.

A random owl

The Wolf from the Red Ridinghood series

A fawn

A dejected or lonely wild pig

Lucky Luke with a metal cigarette… or straw…. You decide if he is the old version or politically correct modern version. 

And a well-composed version of the four Daltons, the other face being on the back.

That was the end of the character sculptures, but not the end of the forest walk.

More to come. 

Traveling VI

The Enchanted Forest 

The Swiss like to walk. Most have a regular route where they go. So, it is more interesting if there is something to see along the way, even if it is the same each time. With the change of weather and seasons, things look different. 

And one needs nicely groomed paths, and well tended landscape. 

So, where we went, there was a carefully manicured forest with a collection of carved wood characters. Each was made from a section of tree trunk. Some were Forest fauna or flora. Some were denizens of well known stories. Somebody put a LOT of work into this walking trail. 

Fauna.

Flora. A morel. 

Many had painted rocks, which probably some passerby had left.

Most we could easily tell what they were representing, but this one caused some debate. Ears too small and neck too long for a fox, but maybe it is a fox…..At first I though a weasel, but…..

Here is the weasel (or of that family).

Indeed.

This creature looks a little shocked, that maybe it laid that colorful egg. 

A pretty but useless bridge harbored these….

… and….

….these. Note the colored egg… um….rock among the ducklings. This one could lay an egg, just maybe not so bright.

Those hands are twice as big as yours. 

And the Auerhahn. They are as big as a turkey and shiny black.

Next…. The storybook characters. 

Traveling V

Villa Turned Hotel

( By the way, this trip was from Monday to Wednesday, so we have been back some days.)

The Jura is agriculture country, and for a long while part of the crops were tobacco. That product got manufactured into cigarettes and pipe tobacco for the world market. One family who managed the industry there built a fine house on the outskirts of Boncourt. Eventually, whether from smoking becoming politically incorrect, or the family having other interests or dying out, they left the business, put the house into a foundation ( in the 1980’s), and it became a hotel. That’s where we stayed. When we walked in the town, we kept getting odd whiffs of something that we couldn’t quite identify. Eventually it occurred to us: nicotine! There is still the huge factory building in the nearby town, and it gives off a distinctive odor. 

What used to be the boss’s office. 

From a biography of the family. They were very active in the Swiss military. 

The front lawn. The house has a fine terrace in front. It was wet. 

And a fine driveway.

And a fine Gatehouse.

And a fine cross by the entrance gate. 




And fine rainbows after rain storms. 

And even fine rainbows on the curtains the next morning when the sun was shining.

And there was a fine Enchanted Forest adjoining…… for next time.