Magnificient Animals at the foot of Chasseral

The Bison farm is in Les Colisses du Bas, a good hour of walk from the final station of the bus climbing up from Biel to Pres d'Orvin/Le Grillong. Follow the walking trail and not the road, which unfortunately is very busy with people that prefer to climb the mountains in their 4*4! What a hassle! More on http://www.bisonranch.ch/

They are a magnificient animal - just a pity they are American bisons, and not the European ones. In their sizable flock under the Jura sapins at the foot of Chasseral, they make dream of the vast forests Europe has once been covered with. Not bad either: Bison terrine and home made bread!

Under Construction!!! La Chaux des Breuleux

Under Construction!!! Etang de la Gruere - the Pearl of the Franches Montagnes

After 36 hours of snowing in the Franches Montagnes

Two Reasons to visit Les Bois

L'Auberge de l'Ours, Les Bois; Tel. 032 961 14 45; Ferme du dimanche a 18 heures au mardi a 18 heures;

There are at least two reasions to visit the tiny "Les Bois" village (with some very urban high rising buildings giving the village a real special character) between Saignelegier and la Chaux de Fonds: The Boucherie Pierre Billat where customers come from far and queue up for long to get meat which is said to be one of the best in the region. And the "Auberge de l'Ours" where service ranks among the friendliest in all the Franche-Montagnes, a nice little menu with the common Jura specials raning from Cuisses to Jambon cuit, and pretty tables in pink!

Croute aux Morilles (the morilles unfortunately not from the region)

And extra fresh chips for a little girl that has just woken up!

When in the old times there was only one church in the Franche Montagnes, in Montfaucon (L'Eglise-Mère was the only church in the Franches Montagnes, until the 16th century), the people from Les Bois on their way to Montfaucon had a rest in the hamlet of Les Emibois. As the place has been mid-way to the church for the people from Les Bois, the origins of the name of the hamlet are said to have developed from (de)mi (chemin des gens de les) bois!

Bellelay - the place where the Wild Boar was commemorated

Difficult where to look - the newly renovated Abbaie de Bellelay is simple beautiful. All in white, with no furniture in at all, but an enormous recontructed Pipe Organ, one can only immagine what a monumental experience 300 years ago it must have been for a simple peasant to enter the cathedral! 200 years ago the French revolution raided the place, decorations and furniture were removed, and some have since been refound in other churches in the region, and in the museum in La Chaux de Fonds. Until the 1950th, the cathedral was then used as a barn just like in Stalin's Soviet Union, until renovated and reopened in the 1960th. The pipe organ fanatic Bernhard Heiniger now has constructed a new organ - listening to it in the entirely furniture free cathedral, with just the what washed walls, the figures, the organ and the sound, is a truly amazing experience, even for the non pipe and cathedral fanatics!

But it isn't everything that the tiny spot of Bellelay - the legend goes that it was a "Laie", a wild bore in French that a lost hunter had killed and then swore to build a chapel on the spot of what later became "Bellelay" if ever he found out of the forest again - has to offer. Bellelay is also the birth place of the Tete de Moine Cheese, with which the monks used to pay there annual fees to the landlords and then, after having gained a gold medal in Paris has become world famous. Tramelan has been one of the major trading places for Tete de Moine, which for many years has alsmost exclusively been exported rather than consumed locally.

The Hotel de l'Ours is monumental, too and well known for its very generous portions of game served in autumn.

The Domaine de Bellelay hosts a riding centre, and a historical cave for rustic lunches and dinners. And the near-by turf cutting grounds have been transformed into a nature reserve.

How to reach Bellelay: Publicar "Courtine" serves Bellelay from Tavannes at any time you want mornings and afternoons except Saturdays. Simply call ... and make use of this great service!

Restaurant "Les Places" - with a view into the Bernese Oberland

How to reach it: 1 good hour of stiff walk from Tramelan, along the road towards the North West. In summer there is also the option of a track through the beautiful forest La Cote.

Closed on Wednesdays;

The reason to climb up to "Les Places"? The most fantastic views accross La Tanne, the Jura right to Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and a lot more! Once the snow will have melted from the terrace, there are tables and bottles on white wine on each one, served with freshly cut cheese and sausage!

When you travel back home by train from Tramelan to Tavannes, look up to your left! The little roof triangle of a witch house entirely within the forest is exactly "Les Places" saying farewell to you!