2020 - Bonjour Jura | FindPenguins

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June 12, 2020
2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
First Trip - back on the road again!
June 12, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Finally , Lockdown is over and Holidays begins. We got the Camper Pasqualino out of his dark den and drove straight to Salavaux, next to Lake Murten. The local campground was packed, mainly from regions who had a public holiday on Thursday...
We have to get used again to European standards 😳 Small sites and less privacy, main life is around facilities (restaurant, shop, shower, toilets, washing dishes)...not what we were used to in the US.
Take away Pizza for the first night - sunny and warm evening though!Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Beautiful Murten - magnifique Morat
June 13, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Summer Day, ready for action! We took our bikes and 9kms later we have arrived in the historic old town of Murten.
The beautiful little place was definitely worth a visit. It was quite busy for Saturday and after coffee, shopping, climbing the city wall we then closed the visit with a nice lunch with a view over the lake...
The weather change was approaching so we hit the pedals and cycled the other (longer) side around the lake back to the camping. We passed through little villages in Mont Vully region and were tempted to stop for a wine tasting...But facing the dark clouds we better hurried up. And we made it dry - the thunderstorm started once were safe back “home”!Read more
Travelerc'est joli Morat
6/16/20Reply
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
City Tour Avenches-Estavayer-Yverdon
June 14, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Today - after a rainy night we went back on the road again.
First stop: Avenches. Impressive with its amphitheater! Then we stopped in Estavayer-le-Lac - with another historic city center with a castle of course. Impressive church as well.
Yverdon was our last stop before heading up into the Vallee de Joux, where we will stay overnight.Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Around “Lac de Joux”
June 15, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
How to discover the remote Vallée de Joux? Best by hiking or biking. We decided to cycle around the lake, approx 25kms it said. We started clockwise in Le Sentier and then soon realized that this side of the lake has cliffs. The bike path went steep up 😤 but once on top we biked through green meadows and saw some wildlife. A great downhill to Le Pont brought us back to lake level. Le Pont along the northern end of the lake looked like Tobermory in Scotland with the cloudy weather. The otherside of the lake to complete our loop was flat, less exciting...Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
From Watch Valley to Route de l’Absinthe
June 15, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
After biking we were hungry and ended up in the Bellevue, just next to our campground. And it was not only nicely decorated but also good food.
We drove through Le Sentier and saw the factories of some luxury watches like Jaeger-Le-Coultre and Breguet.
We left beautiful Vallée de Joux and drove back to Vallorbe. The fastest route to our next destination went through FRANCE. And we left the country through reopened border for the first time. And here it was: Val de Travers, famous for its Absinthe🤢
We found a camping on a farm, very nice place!Read more
TravelerLorsque nous étions en vacances dans le Jura nous avons fait la route de l’absinthe dans l’autre sens !
6/17/20Reply
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
The Swiss Canyon: Le Creux du Van
June 16, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
We heard about it, we saw pictures of it and the Swiss Tourism is advertising it: the Swiss Grand Canyon. Le Creux du Van, based in the Val de Travers in the Jura of Neuchâtel. We drove to Noiraigue and started our 15kms hike up to the edge of the canyon. It took us 4 hrs and almost 1000m of elevation to complete our round trip but it was worth it. A stunning canyon with views over Jura and we enjoyed our picnic up there, with sound of an Alphorn as a background.
We wondered why so many people were up there and then found out, that you can drive up there 🙈Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Camping à la ferme
June 16, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
In La Coué, close to Travers within Val-de-Travers, we found a nice campsite on a farm! It was very calm and we stayed for two nights!
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Le Locle - Moulins souterrains!
June 17, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
In Le Locle we met Rita & Michel who joined us for two days. We first started underground by visiting the Underground Mills of Le locle. They used the caverns and its water to produce transmission for grain mill, saw mill and other useful things. It has been all installed and operated underground where a constant temperature of 7 degrees did definitely not provide a great work environment.
Later they only used the wheels to use the water power and all factories had been built outside.
Only in the 70ies the abounded site has been restored and made public.
We visited Le Locle and enjoyed “French” food. In La-Chaux-de-Fonds we stayed overnight and enjoyed another nice meal.Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Biaufond - Hike to the end of the world
June 18, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
After the rainy Wednesday we had better weather for our hike. We started in Les Bois and hiked into the valley where the River Doubs flows. It also marks the border in between CH and France.
The hike went through cow fields, forest and we ended up on a remote place called Biaufond, where the river is temporarily a lake (Lac de Biaufond). A bridge links boths sides and so we ended up grilling a Cervelat on the French side of the lake! 16 kms and 5hrs later we were back in Les Bois and were happy to have discovered a place in Switzerland where not many have been before.
Rita & Michel went home and we settled in a natural campground in Le Noirmont, Franches Montagnes. More Jura isn’t possible!Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
St. Ursanne & Porrentruy
June 19, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
A rainy morning and a rest day in terms of activity, good time for local food shopping and discover more of the Jura.
We first visited picturesque St. Ursanne, nestled in between rocks and river Doubs. Normally very busy as it is a tourist hot spot, but today very calm. After walking through the streets and a little snack we went further north to Porrentruy. Also a nice place with old town and a castle sitting above the center.Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Bike Tour Mont Soleil - Crosins
June 20, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Weather looks better - time for another bike tour. The wind turbines were waving at as the last days, time to visit Mont Soleil, home of Juravent and its 16 wind turbines. We made a loop, a mixture of several bike routes (good luck reading maps - thanks GPS). Paved road, gravel road, main road, mud road, meadow path - with several cow and horse gatherings in the middle of it.
We arrived on top of Mont Soleil, followed the turbines and ended up on Mont Crosin. After the boring downhill along the road we visited the Etang de Gruere, a natural lake. It looked like Canada ! After 46 kms we made it back to our campsite!Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
Camping dans les Franches-Montagnes
June 20, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
After our first tranquil Thursday night in Jura Bivouac we decided to stay two more nights. You cannot have much more Jura Camping than here. Surrounded by typical Jura Nature with its green meadows and fir trees, horses and cows and only few campers (apart from Saturday/Sunday). Le Noirmont is also a central place to do activities.Read more
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2020 - Bonjour Jura Traveler
On the way out of Jura
June 21, 2020 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Last day, summer is coming back 😡
We enjoyed another outdoor breakfast before packing up. We couldn’t leave without visiting the capital of Jura, Délémont. Nice old town but very deserted on a Sunday. We finally left the Jura via Laufental and stopped in Laufen for lunch. Another fortified old town and surprisingly busy with cyclists.
The second last stop before safe arrival at home was the dumping station along Highway A2 🤢Read more
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Trip end
June 21, 2020