Tag Archives: hiking

Walks around Pays de Gex

France: Les Pierres des Cupules in St. Jean de Gonville

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Les Pierres a Cupules will in English translate as Cupstones. A cupstone is a stone or rock surface bearing a cup sculpture. Cupstones are associated with places of worship and is believed to have been used as altar stones in prehistoric European religion. They are usually found close to glacial erratics, viewpoints and dangerous alpine trails.

This walk in the woods of St. Jean de Gonville is one I think many of you may have heard about. However, when people ask for hiking directions, I rarely see it mentioned.

I did this walk many years ago with my family and thought it would be easy to find the way. Coming by car and finding a parking space was really easy. Lots of parking is available around the church of St Jean de Gonville. For those not equipped with their own car, the buss from Divonne to Bellegarde stops in St Jean de Gonville. To check the timetable click here. If you are coming from Geneva, the F bus and the 68 bus from TPG will take you across the border into Pays de Gex.

The church was open, so I walked in to have a look (this is the reason for all the doodles on the map). The church was constructed in 1090 on an ancient cemetery by the Clunisien priory of Saint Victor de Geneve. These small parish churches are of cause not as impressive as the cathedrals you will find in big cities, but remain pillars of Christian devotion in their local communities today, same as a thousand years ago. Their simpler architectural lines can be both peaceful and relaxing. If the church is open, I’ll advice you to have a look inside.

OK. Let’s move on to the walk. I would have thought there was a signpost indicating where to find these famous Cupstones. But no, nothing of the sort. At least I could not see any signs in the village indicating the starting point for the walking trail. I personally think that the commune should put a few Euros aside in their next budget to finance some signpost to indicate where this walk starts.

Right. When you have the church right behind you, walk a few meters up Rue de l’Eglise. Turn right on Rue Charriere and then left on Rue Gachet. After you pass a fountain, continue for another 10 meters or so and you will see a path on the right that eventually takes you into the woods.

The path is quite wide, and takes you on a gentle climb up (ignore the side paths and move on uphill). Soon you will have a good view of the area around, including Satigny and Geneva.

After a few minutes, you will come to the only signpost signalizing that you are on the right pathway to Pierre du Neyret.

The Pierre du Neyret rock, transported by the glacier from the Alps, is very impressive. In comparison to the Pierres du Parrey it could not have had the same importance because Pierre du Neyret has no engravings. When looking at I can’t help thinking it looks like a giant stranded whale. If you bring children along, ask them what they think this rock resemble. I’d be curious to know.

Walking on and up, you’ll eventually reach a barrier. From here, the path will take you slowly down to meet another path. At this crossroads, or crosspaths, walk to the left. Finally we’re going up again, this time on a path with a nicely built stone fence on either side. (Farmers today should really take the time to build this kind of fence instead of putting up the ubiquitous and dangerous barbed wire).

When you see the Maison Driset on your right side and this sign in front of you, the fastest route to Les Pierres du Parrey is to walk to the right.

On the map below you can see that I continued walking up; this is because once again it was not very clear to me where exactly in the woods I would find these rocks.

After just a few minutes you will come to a clearing in the forest. This clearing is impressive today and I think it must have been even bigger before. Now, the forest is growing freely since there is very little use of the land for agricultural purposes.

Standing in the middle of this field, you’ll have the Jura Mountains behind you, and a stunning view of the Mont Blanc, Geneva and the lake in front of you. This place must be a perfect place for an evening picnic in the summer, when the Covid curfews are history and we’re again allowed to move around after 6pm here in France.

The first of the rocks is made of granite and has a flat surface, which with its more than 5 meters diameter is quite impressive. It rests on a smaller rock, which almost creates a little hut underneath.

The lower rock is made of chlorite shale and has been covered in engravings of crosses and channels.

After you have admired the rocks, you can chose to do a little loop by continuing upwards on the path you walked on coming up to the clearing. On this loop you will be passing the rocks again before you head back down.

To walk back to St Jean de Gonville, find the path that took you up to the clearing, and when you see Maison Driset do not walk to the right but continue straight on down towards the little Hameau de Mornex.

There’s a surprise waiting for you: On your way down you will all of a sudden see the remains of an old British car, deep in the middle of the woods. I really wonder how it ended up exactly here. I have read there are people traveling across Europe documenting old car wrecks found in the most bizarre places; however, I haven’t found any information about this car in particular. If you know the story of how it ended up here in the woods of St Jean de Gonville, please leave a message in the comments. I am sure there are many of us who are curious to know the history.

Passing the old houses in the upper part of Hameau de Mornex, the charm of ancient times is very much present. Walk down to the big road and look for the church tower. The church tower will lead you through the streets of St Jean de Gonville and back to your starting point.

Enjoy walking, and feel free to share!

Winter Activity

France: Giron, winter hiking on snowshoes and cross-country skiing

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Because La Vattay is the nearest place for me to go cross-country skiing, it’s where I often end up on a nice and sunny day.

But on those nice and sunny weekends when the sheer amount of traffic up towards Col de La Faucille is just crazy, why not try going to a real local place that offers great trails for both the cross-country skiers and on foot.

I discovered the small village of Giron just a few years ago, and it has since become my preferred resort on those days where I just know I’ll spend more time looking for a parking space at La Vattay than actually skiing.

This year, with all the alpine ski resorts closed and shops being sold out for snowshoes, it feels like the whole of Geneva and Pays de Gex take the same route up past Gex and into the Jura mountains at exactly the same time.

This is why Giron, located in the Ain department, is a good alternative. From the greater Geneva region, it takes you about one hour to drive. To get there, all you have to do is drive past Bellegarde and take the local road (not the A40) towards Nantua. Roughly mid-way between Bellegarde and Nantua, at Saint-Germain-de-Joux, you take right and follow the signpost towards Giron. Another few minutes, and you’re there.

Giron is located 1,000 meters above sea level (it even says “Giron 1000” on the signs) and it’s the highest village in the Ain department. Even so, it is relatively low in comparison to many resorts you’ll find on the Jura plateau. In recent years, with relatively mild winters, the snow have melted earlier there than on some of the more north-facing trails elsewhere, especially those at La Vattay. If you’re in doubt about the current snow conditions you can call the Relais Nordique (0033 676 24 52 12) to check with them whether the trails are open, or you can consult the snow report (unfortunately only in French).

As with most of these resorts in our various backyards, for a daytrip you need to have access to a car as public transport is not really an option. If you go for the weekend, Le Relais Nordique has a pickup service that will collect you in Bellegarde.

Interestingly, Giron is the point of arrival for participants in the 76 km long cross country ski race competition La Transjurassienne. The Transjurassienne is the world’s second longest cross-country ski competition, normally taking place in February every year.

Apart from the weekend when the Transjurassienne takes place, Giron is very much a quiet little local station. You won’t find the same number of trails as they have at La Vattay, but the upside is that it is not as busy. Even on a Sunday, you will find parking relatively easy. In the village centre there’s a rental shop and bar/restaurant, as well as restroom facilities, all in one building. At the counter of the rental shop, friendly staff will help you find the right skis or snowshoes. Whenever the nasty Covid virus decide to pack it in, you should be able to enjoy a nice lunch and hot and cold drinks at the Relais Nordique. Even last Sunday, the smell of hot wine was just divine and very inviting.

In the meantime we have to take a packed lunch with us and enjoy it outside. Which can be very nice too.

In order to check out the map of trails, click here for skis and snowshoes.

If you are not in possession of your own equipment, skis, snowshoes and sledges can be rented at Le Relais Nordique. For prices, click here.

Whether you select the green, blue or red trail, you will be passing Cirque de la Fauconniere on the way back to the starting point. This is a spectacular 150-meter-high cliff wall (you’ll pass the summit). On a nice and sunny day, you will be able to enjoy a spectacular view of the Semine valley from this viewpoint. My photo from last Sunday when everything was covered in mist doesn’t really give justice to this spectacular view.

Finally, on your way back, don’t forget to stop in Saint-Germain-de-Joux to check out the local river and its “marmites”. These rock hollows, carved out by the river over millennia, are accessible by a 5-minute walk from the town centre. Just follow the signs! For a longer walk around the “marmite” you should try this walk that I blogged about last year. The Giant Kettles in Saint Germain de Joux (les marmites de geant) and Combe Michel

I hope you enjoy, and feel free to share!

Walks around Pays de Gex

France: Massif du Grand Crêt d’Eau and la Pierre à Fromage

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Features: panorama view

Overview: this is a medium walk

Time: around 5 hours               Km: 15,5                 Hight to climb: 619 meters

This walk will give you a panoramic view over the whole of the Pays de Gex, Geneva and the Jura mountains.

The starting point for this walk is the Refuge Pre Bouillet in Farges. To reach the Refuge Pre Bouillet you drive up Route du Col du Sac (not Cul de Sac!) as far as you get. If you only want to enjoy the view and spend the night, the refuge is available for rent between 1st May and 1st November. You can find more information here.

Start by following the yellow signs to Combe du Petit Louis. You will be walking trough a nature reserve and it is recommended that you always stay on the marked path. Between 15 December and 15 May every year it is strictly forbidden to leave the marked path. This is to protect the nature and allow animals to live and reproduce without human interference.

On your way up, you will pass what I believe was once a small chalet for hunters.

When you reach the Combe du Petit Louis, you continue following the signs to Chalet du Sac and Pierre a Fromage.

As soon as you emerge above the treeline, you will enter the typical Jura Alpine pastures and walk past several summer chalets.

You will also be walking past several “goyas” this is water reserves created in clay sinkholes. The water enters a crack, carries the clay which fills the bottom of the sinkhole, making it waterproof. The shepherds covered the bottom with leaves which they had trampled by the cows in order to solidify it.

“goya” water reserve

Pierre a Fromage: Several hypotheses exist to explain the name of this strange stone. Some speculate that it was the place where the local lords paid taxes from the production of cheese made during the summer. Others believe that this stone served as a resting place during the transport of the cheeses on people’s backs.

When you have passed la Pierre a Fromage, you walk along a circuit which starts by walking up to Cret de la Goutte. Here, you will have an amazing 360 view of Geneva and the Jura massif. On a good day you can see as far as lac d’Annecy and Lac du Bourget and of course the Alps and Mont Blanc.

After some time spent admiring this incredible view, continue towards Sorgia en Haut, where you can admire the view of Bellegarde and its surrounding villages. From here, you redescend to Sous Varambon before starting to walk up again towards Chalet de Varambon. After passing the Chalet the Varambon, follow signs towards Pierre a Fromage and follow the same path down to the Refuge du Pre Bouillet.

Happy walking, and feel free to share!

Walks around Pays de Gex

France: Segny to Veraz – along the Grand Journans

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When you’ve decided to go for a walk in the Jura on a rainy, cold and grey Sunday in late August, and it looks like this up at Col de La Faucille

and you realize yours is the only car in the parking lot, there’s only one thing to do: drive back down and decide to revisit parts of a walk in the lowland that you’ve blogged about earlier from Segny to Chevry. The new itinerary can be found and downloaded at the bottom of this post.

Time: just over 1 hour              Km: 5                      Hight to climb: 61 meters

With today’s view of the Jura and the Alps I should have known better than to drive all the way up there…

Actually, it is very refreshing to be out in the rain and it always makes coming back home so much more of a pleasure.

I stopped in Segny and walked towards Veraz. This time I decided to walk along the Grand Journans river.

When you reach to the bridge, take left instead of continuing directly to Chevry.

Walking along the stream is so calm and peaceful. With newly built houses on both sides I was amazed to realize I was the only one out and about.

When I came to this little bridge…

…I crossed over and walked through the little hamlet of houses with beautiful gardens in Veraz.

After a few meters on Rue des Moraines I turned right, and before I knew it I was on the Sentier des Vignerons. I did not see any signs of grapes or wine but if you are a tall person there are plenty of blackberries to pick if you do this walk at the right time of the year.

Can you see the house?

When you see a narrow path to your left that goes up across the field, choose this as it will take you up to the bigger path called Sentier des Boraz. Follow this path back to your staring point.

Happy walking, and feel free to share!

Walks around Pays de Gex

France: Walking along the old railway lines from Collonges Fort-l’Ecluse to Divonne-les-Bains

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I am sure a lot of people in the Pays de Gex area still remember the Collonges- Fort-l’Ecluse – Divonne-les-Bains railway line passing through Pays de Gex.

I arrived here for the first time in the late nineties, and to start with I was always careful when approaching a train crossing. I was soon told there was no need to worry about being hit by trains since the line had already been closed for many years.

Later, I remember hearing people claiming to have seen recent trains, and I remember we tried (after giving them incredulous glances at first) to work out how that could at all be possible. You’re probably laughing right now because information is so easy to get hold of these days. Twenty years ago, there were no Facebook groups, and the information on Wikipedia was scarce (especially in French). Exploring this train line has therefore provided me lots of new knowledge about the train line that runs from one side of the Pays de Gex to the other.

Here are some historic facts:

The railway line between Collonges-Fort-l’Ecluse and Divonne-les-Bains was inaugurated in 1899, at the height of the railway craze sweeping through most of Europe. The length of this railway line was at the outset 38 kilometres. Five years later, you could travel all the way to Nyon in Switzerland from Collonges-Fort-l’Ecluse, however, this part was closed and removed in the early 1960’s when the highway was built.

During the second world war the line was closed for traffic.

The last passenger train on the Collonges to Divonne line ran in 1980. I assume this had to do with the proliferation of individual transportation that has changed so many other aspects of our lives: constructions of motorways and more and more households having access to a car. With institutions like CERN and the United Nation setting up offices in Geneva, the traffic patterns had also changed, and the need for travelling into Geneva was probably now much larger than the need for going to exotic places like Bellegarde and Lyon.

In hindsight, I think you could say that the local politicians were short-sighted, because closing this railway line made public transport within Pays de Gex almost impossible for many years. There used to be three to four train services per day, and the communes in Pays de Gex fought to keep their beloved train line, but it was just not profitable enough.

With the large influx of people into the area in the last 20-30 years, and the difficulties we now face going from one village to another, this train service would probably have been very useful today. My own kids very quickly found out that it was easy enough to use public transport to go into Geneva, but using public transport to see their friends around Pays de Gex was impossible for them for a very long time.

Reading up a bit on the history also shed light on these ghost trains I’d heard about and proved that those friends of mine were indeed not delirious or mad after all. From 2001 to 2014, part of the railway line was actually used to transport household waste from Chevry to Bellegarde to be incinerated twice a week.

In 2014, the railway line was closed for good.

From Divonne to Gex, the old railway lines have been transformed into a very nice walking and cycling path.

However, today we’ll focus on walking on the real tracks. A railway walk is perfect whatever the weather. However, if you want to explore the parts that have not been transformed into a walking path, I will recommend long socks and trousers. Speaking from experience, I can say that wearing a pair of shorts and short socks is not ideal on overgrown paths with thorn bushes and nettles. But on the upside, from July to September you don’t need to bring a snack with you as you can feast on the delicious blackberries growing in and around the tracks.

I have done two outings walking on the railway line, for both walks I started in Asserans where I literally parked on the railway lines. I then walked from Asserans to Peron and back and from Asserans to Collonges and back. You will need plan around two and a half to three hours for both walks.

The most scenic walk was from Asserans going west, to Collonges. Here you will be walking through two tunnels and across two spectacular train bridges.

The first is tunnel is Grand Echaud which is 258 meters, followed by the Tunnel des Isles which is 149 meters. In both tunnels, having a flashlight available is handy. Luckily most phones these days have this tool built in.

The two impressive bridges, or viaducts, are the Viaduct de Grand Echaud and Viaduct d’Almogne.

The old station building in Collonges Fort-l’Ecluse is not a very interesting sight and you will probably be better off enjoying the nature, pretty views, tunnels and viaducts on your return to Asserans.

Enjoy walking, and feel free to share!