Franche-Comté
A Morbier longcase clock made out of flowers was the welcome sign in Morbier, as we were entering the village on the N5 coming from St. Laurent-en-Grandvaux.
The church of Morbier doesn't look fancy from the outside. The highlights are inside. Entering the church through the door on the left puts you right in front of the 6.75m (22.1 ft) tall Morbier longcase clock, which was built in 1984 as a reminder of its long history on clock making. It is an impressive clock and definitely worth a visit.
Back on the N5 we are going through St. Laurent-en-Grandvaux. We are using the D62 which brings us within a few miles to Fort-du-Plasne, where the famous J.B. Cattin built his highly sophisticated Morbier clocks. There isn't much hinting towards the clock making history of this village, other than the gravestone of J.B. Cattin in the church.
Looking back at Fort-du-Plasne we recognize the smooth hills of the high-plateau landscape, which is typical for the area.
We are passing a number of small villages, like Foncine-le-Bas, Foncine-le-Haut and Châtelblanc. All of these places along with its famous clock making families are mentioned in the Morbier books.
We are moving on to the D46 towards Morbier. In Chapelle-des-Bois we parked the car and decided to explore the landscape on foot.
The lake with its beautiful surroundings underlines the relaxing atmosphere up here.
Back to the start of the hike we have visited the church of Chapelle-des-Bois. This concluded the short trip through the Franche-Comté.
