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 Dwight
Peck's low-res photos
Farms
of the Jura in winter
[The
Jura mountains run in a southwest-northeast direction along the border between
France and Switzerland, from Geneva (Genève) to Basel (Bâle), holding at about
1300-1400 meters altitude (4350-4500 feet), and peaking in the range of 1650 meters
(5450 feet). These photos of high alpage farms in winter are mainly from the southwestern
end of that range, between the cities of Geneva and Vallorbe.]
Rionde
Dessous
Rionde
Dessous, the "lower" Rionde, is at 1314m above the road from Marchairuz
to La Bassine -- Rionde Dessus, the "upper" Rionde, lies across the
far side of that road to the northwest at 1325m, only marginally "upper".
That
road on the left is the only other paved road over the mountain between the Bassins
road and the Col du Marchairuz -- it comes up from the La Côte village of
Le Vaud past the commune's farm, the Perroude du Vaud (1371m) along the front
ridge of the Jura and, as here, drops down to the Bassine-Marchairuz through the
Combe d'Amburnex.
My
understanding is that we are still well inside the "reserve de chasse",
the non-hunting protected nature area (the Parc Jurassien Vaudois), but whilst
I was wandering about here on a snowstormy 9 December 2006, I passed three men
tramping through the snow with rifles with telescopic sights on -- their car is
hidden just behind the water catchment area on the left -- and two more cars of
men similarly equipped joined them shortly afterward.
Perhaps
they were hunters, or (if we are inside the Parc) poachers, or perhaps I was witnessing
the early stages of an insurrection planned to overturn the government of the
Swiss Confederation, or perhaps they were just a bunch of fun-loving guys spending
the Saturday night out together in the old farm with some cheese fondue and white
wine and brought their guns along.
As
a loyal former resident of Leysin, Switzerland, I was very pleased to see the
farm of Rionde Dessous here called "Riondaz Dessous". La Riondaz is
the name of the mountain that overlooked my little house in Leysin.
Goodbye,
hunters or poachers or whatever you may be. It's snowing hard, night is falling,
and I want to get some photos of the farm at Pré
aux Veaux before clearing out back down the mountain.
The
farm of Rionde ("Riondaz") Dessous in April 2002, from the northeast,
with Monts Sala and Pelé on the horizon.
From
the Carte National de la Suisse, 25,000 scale: 1241, Marchairuz
The
farm of Rionde Dessus (the "upper" one)
is just across the road.
 Feedback
and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative,  .
All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 9 December 2006.
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