Franche-Comte
Franche-Comté, meaning literally ‘free country’, contains the departments of Doubs (25), Jura (39), Haute-Saône (70) and the Territoire-de-Belfort (90).
It’s a little-known region in eastern France bordering Switzerland, with which it shares much of its architecture, cuisine and culture. It’s known for cheeses such as Comté and Morbier, Jura wines, and Morteau and Montbéliard sausages. Franche Comté is acclaimed for its beautiful, unspoiled scenery (more Swiss in appearance than French) and recalls a fairy-tale land where time has almost stood still. It’s reputed to be the greenest region in France.
Sandwiched between the Vosges range to the north and the Jura mountains to the south, Franche-Comté boasts a landscape of rolling cultivated fields, dense pine forests and rampart-like mountains. Although not as majestic as the Alps, the Jura mountains are more accessible and are a Mecca for nature lovers and winter sports fans.
The Doubs and Loue valleys (noted for their timbered houses perched on stilts in the river) and the high valley of Ain are popular areas. The region’s main towns include Belfort and Besançon (25), the regional capital on the river Doubs.
Franche-Comté is relatively undiscovered, and features many forests, rivers, lakes, gorges and vineyards. Located on the eastern France border with Switzerland, between the Vosges Mountains to the north and the Jura mountains to the south, there is a marked Swiss influence to this region’s culture and cuisine.
The geology of the region means that it is quite remote in places, where spectacular scenery is only broken by occasional family farms. More than half the region is covered in woodland, there are hundreds of lakes, and rivers and waterfalls spill from the rocks wherever you go.
As with most stunning landscape at high-altitide, there is plenty to do activity-wise. In winter, there’s the skiing, boarding, skating, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, dog sleding and skidooing. Summer persuits include paragliding, mountain biking, road cycling, walking and white water rafting.
For a bit of civilisation, try the lively two week music festival in Besançon, every September, and visit the colourful and atmospheric markets, which are every morning in one town or another.
This is the coldest region of France. The winters are long and harsh, but there is plenty of sun in the summer, which is strong due to the altitude.
Similar to the alpine region of Savoie and to Switzerland, the food here is rich and warming mountain food. Fondue, raclette and tartiflette are the most famous regional recipes. There are many more, but they do carry on the general theme, and tend to be bolstering and tasty mountain dishes, based around local cheeses (Morbier, Vacherin du Haute-Doubs, Comte, Raclette, Cancoillote and Bleu de Gex), potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, morel mushrooms and bacon/ pork. Veal and trout cooked in local white or ‘yellow’ wine are also often seen on menus.
To view some Gites in Franche-Comte, please Gites in Franche-Compte.
All the best
