| Franche
Comte, France Departments: Jura, Doubs, Haute-Saone,
Belfort.
Franche Comte, France Main Towns: Baume-les-Dames,
Belfort, Besancon, Campagnole, Champlitte, Dole, Gray,
Jussey, Les Rousses, Lons-le-Saunier, Lure, Luxueil les
Bains, Maiche, Montbeliard, Morez, Morteau, Orgelet,
Polingy, Pontarlier, Raucourt, Rioz, Roche, Valdahon,
Vesoul.
Franche-Comté or the Jura region of France borders
Switzerland and is located in the centre of Western
Europe, south and east of the regions of Alsace and
Burgundy and is close to Germany.
There is an abundance of wide open spaces, mountains,
forests and fast flowing rivers. The valley of the Saone
is criss-crossed from the beginning of spring by many
small barges whose crews make random stops on rivers and
locks to visit old fountains, museums, abbeys, churches
and castles, zoos and amusement parks. Situated in the
Eastern part of France this region comprises four
departments, the Doubs, Jura, Haut-Saône and Territoire
de Belfort.
Besançon, the capital has 123,000
inhabitants and is France’s first garden city. With its
imposing fortress built by Vauban it is also the site of
regular classical music and jazz festivals. Overall the
region accounts for 2% of the total French population
whereas the surface area amounts to 3% of the surface
area of France. It is an unspoilt region of forests,
lakes and mountains. There is a wealth of local produce
to enjoy from cheeses including Comté, Emmental and Mont
d’or; Luxeuil ham, Brési (dried smoked beef from this
land of cattle), Morteau and Montbéliard sausage. The
Jurassic wine has remained famous, while other
franc-comtois vineyards, in Champlitte, Charcenne,
Roche, Raucourt and in the valley of Loue, also attract
visitors. The yellow wines, unique in France, the wines
of straw, the "crémants" and the marc make up the types
of wine from these vineyards that benefit from
astonishing local climates. Arbois is the undisputed
capital of Jura wines, whose history of cultivation is
documented in the Museum of Wine.
As one might
expect leisure activities include a variety of outdoor
pursuits including cross country and downhill skiing,
snowshoe trekking, dog sleigh riding and of course, with
a total of 80 lakes, there is plenty for ramblers,
fishermen and water skiers to enjoy. Amongst these Lake
Saint Point which abounds with fish and extends to 400
hectares is probably the best known. The dramatic Jura
mountains and the Vosges Mountains with the
extraordinary still waters of the ‘Plateau des Milles
Etangs’ etched out by glaciers are just two of the
impressive natural wonders of this region.
The capital of the Jura region of France is Besancon,
one of the most charming small cities in France, founded
by the Romans in the first century Dole, on the
river Doubs, has a wonderful concentration of 16th and
17th century buildings, and was once the capital of
Franche-Comte. The fortified town of Poligny is
very pretty with its towers and church spires. Southwest
of Besancon, the patrician town of Ornans has the River
Loue running through it, with many bridges and
houses jutting out over the water. The town of Gray has
a remarkable town hall which dating from the 16th
century and Luxeuil-les-Bains is a spa known for
water-cures. Belfort is famous for its lion and
festivals.
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