Fairly short stage without much climbing and descending through the Jura. The route passes through Les Rousses and Cure. Here it passes the Swiss border and the route runs on a main road for a bit. After that, the route runs over small roads or paths through forests and along beautiful meadows. The route ends at the Swiss town of Saint-Cergue.
Today the we enter Switzerland. After having walked on or just a bit over the border for quite some time, we will really walk into Switzerland from here on. In two stages we walk to Lake Geneva.
Once again we are the first to wake up. Everyone is still sleeping after last night’s party.
After breakfast we pack our gear and are eager to get going, but we still have to pay. Last night, given the crowds, there was no real opportunity to do so. After a few attempts to get hold of one of the employees, someone from last night’s band who is also up early, comes to our aid. She accompanies us into the little restaurant and shouts up at the bottom of a stepladder behind the bar, that we want to leave and pay. We hear a sleepy response from upstairs after some stumbling, “C’est €5.50.” We put €6 on the counter by the bar, shout up a few more “Merci, au revoir!” and then go on our way. Easy does it!
It’s a bit of a descent to the town of Les Rousses where we do some shopping at a large Intermarché, and from where we set off for the border. The town is pleasantly lively this early, with people having breakfast on terraces and several (mountain) sports shops that have already opened their doors. The route leads us out of the village and continues through inhabited areas with farms and villages until we reach the Swiss border. At La Cure, we cross the border. It’s a fairly large border crossing with lots of truck traffic being checked. From here, the trail runs along major roads for quite a bit. Apparently the GR5 has not received much maintenance in Switzerland in the past. Recently an alternative route that runs on trails and through forests is created, but it’s quite a bit longer and we can’t find enough information about it to follow it today. So we hike along the old route and are glad to have navigation on our phone; the trail markings are soon missing.
After a few kilometers the trail fortunately leaves the main road and follows a beautiful stretch through meadows and along forests. Meanwhile, the temperature has risen considerably and it’s quite warm in the sun. We keep a good pace to get at the Swiss campground in time and we succeed; we arrive around 2:30 pm.
It is a campground with mostly mobile homes and a small field with no shade for tents. We pitch the tent and set up our spot. Super early for us, we sit down with a cup of coffee and lunch next to our tent, in the tiny bit of shade we were able to find. Moments later, the campground owner comes to set up an umbrella for us so we have some more shade. Another campground resident comes over for another chat and warns us that we had better not leave food in the awning. At night, a cheeky fox walks the grounds here. What friendly people they all are!
The rest of the day we take it easy and wait for the worst of the heat to subside, then shower, cook and have another cup of tea. What a lovely peaceful afternoon. We have now walked five days in a row. That’s actually going pretty well, but it’s still nice to give the legs an afternoon’s rest.
What is funny in the mountains on hot days like this, is that as soon as the sun goes down, within half an hour you change from your T-shirt and shorts into a vest, long pants and down jacket.
Here it also cools down quickly, which is nice for a good night’s sleep. And too bad, we didn’t see the fox at night…
