Jura : Découverte du Pays des Lacs et des vignobles | Montagnes françaises | Trésors du Patrimoine
Along the Swiss border, between the Rhône
and the Rhine, the Jura unfolds its mountainous arc over 300 kilometers, in Franche Comté.
This region is home to many natural wonders and
architectural masterpieces, with the highlight being the spectacular royal saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. Built in the 17th century, under Louis XV, it
is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the edge of the massif, another symbol of the
region: its vineyard. Nestled in the heart of the hillsides, Arbois is the wine capital of the Jura.
The cultivation of these vines dates back to Roman times.
We are a few days away from the start of the harvest.
Stéphane Tissot is a winemaker. With his team, he will take care of the
grapes one last time before harvesting. “Are you ready?” … »
In these old copper sprayers, a 100% natural magic potion:
water mixed with quartz dust. “Okay, let’s attack the
pinots down there. Here we go ! You have to feel like you are painting the sky. »
The quartz powder acts like microscopic mirrors that help
the grapes soak up the sun. A practice inherited from ancient winegrowers.
“ The ancients cultivated the vine with very
little and they succeeded. In the space of two generations, we have lost all this empiricism. For
example, I went to school in Beaune where I was taught about all the active ingredients and
chemical products rather than how to make compost or how to keep the soil alive.
It’s hard to have an expression of terroir if all you do is put weedkillers
and chemicals on your soil, there’s something wrong with that. »
In his quest for authenticity, Stéphane abandoned all mechanization of the
work in the vineyards. A choice that allowed him to exploit plots that were difficult to access.
At the heart of one of them is the Curon tower, the emblem of Arbois, which he
shows to his trainees. “So this is a tower that is 200 years old,
built in 1820, it is a tower that served as a watchtower, then served for the
fruit guards, there was a lot of grape theft, the fruit guards who were winegrowers
designated in turn, to check that there was no grape theft and so they kept
watch above there. The tower was bought in 2002, there were three properties in total. ”
As with the work in his vines, Stéphane decided to restore this
building in keeping with tradition. “We redid the roof, we redid the
woodwork, we started to redo the plasterwork the old way, a friend
does that for us, it’s not classified but we try to do everything the old way and
now we’re going to start painting. There is a magnificent view, overlooking all of Arbois”
And the small town of Arbois is just getting ready to experience the highlight of the year. The
sun has done its work. Today is the first day of the harvest of a typical
Jura wine: the straw wine harvest. “We’re going to start making straw wine
in the Chardonnays down there, not in this first vineyard but in the second, we’re going to
take the crates and start…” “…We’re putting a little bit of straw at the bottom!” ”
For this exceptional harvest, no buckets but these crates lined with straw to
receive the most beautiful grapes of the harvest. “These grapes are beautiful!” »
A meticulous harvest whose technique Stéphane explains to the new recruits: Claire and Laure.
“It’s quite simple, we’re dealing with Chardonnays, the principle is to pick the most beautiful
bunches and place them on a bed of straw in crates, the bunches mustn’t
touch each other, we just put them next to each other, there must be a little bit of air to
circulate. You take the bunches, you check that there are no damaged grapes
inside, then you place them delicately next to each other… That’s it. Luckily Genevieve
is here! This is what the crate looks like once it’s made. Look, the beautiful
ladybug, that’s what organic vines are all about, there are lots of little things in them, they have to live”
Stéphane Tissot is a pioneer of organic farming in the Jura and is
one of the few to produce straw wine according to the rules of the art.
“Well, there’s no ladybug, but I think it’s good.”
A new experience for Claire and Laure, originally from Alsace, who are
nevertheless regulars at the grape harvest. “It’s much more meticulous, we take
care of the grapes… It’s something else. This is the first time I’ve made straw wine.
We don’t get excited about pulling on the bunch, it’s my sixth harvest but it’s the
first time I’ve made straw wine. – How do you find the Jura?
– Very pretty, it makes you want to move in! – Just looking at the view down there…
-Oh yes, I really like the landscapes. » «We go another ten
meters then we stop there. » To produce this sweet wine,
Stéphane must leave nothing to chance. “It’s great, isn’t it? ”
Because the grapes cut today will dry on the straw for several months.
“Straw always has a preservative effect, that is to say, in the old days, they
preserved apples, any fruit on straw. What is interesting is that at
the end of drying – in 4, 5 months or more – we take a bunch of grapes, we turn it,
the side which is in contact with the straw is always more beautiful than the side which is in the
open air and it is impressive because it really shows all the benefit that the straw brings. There are
only two or three winegrowers left using straw in the Jura; it is
organic straw that comes from the plain 10 km from here. ” The precious cargo does not wait. The crates
immediately join their new home for the next few months. Let’s go to the attic!
“ That’s where we pile up a
lot of work. » Here, Stéphane keeps 5 tons of his finest
grapes. Thanks to the bed of straw, these bunches will naturally dry until next winter.
“The grapes will what we call raisin, they will become candied, concentrate in sugar,
acidity and aroma too. When making a normal wine, it takes 130 kilos of grapes to produce
100 liters of juice. With straw wine, for 100 kilos of grapes at the beginning you only get
20 liters of juice, sometimes even less. It depends on whether we go a little further in drying. ”
It is to this patience and this requirement that the vin de paille owes its very particular mellowness.
“Now we’re going to do something we like, it’s the icing on the
cake, it’s finishing a little bit of decorating. ” This is what the people of Jura call ”
hanging the goats.” A technique that the ancients used when
they did not have enough straw. Every year, on the occasion of the
grape harvest, the town of Arbois celebrates the Biou festival in honor of the harvest. For
the occasion, Stéphane and his fellow winemakers come together to make a giant bunch of
grapes. It always happens in this barn around this strange object.
“This is the skeleton of the biou, this is where we will hang the
bunches of grapes to make the enormous bunch. When full
it should weigh about 100 kilos. ” Once completed, this offering will be
carried in procession by four winegrowers to the church of Arbois.
“We need to charge a bit here, it’s not a bad start, right?
– So, you make a little detour, you take some in and then…”
The biou festival announces the end of the holidays, the last family reunion of the summer, but
it is above all a tribute to the work of the winegrowers. “We are coming to the end of a year of work
with all the possible climatic hazards and this year it is superb! We have
Chardonnays of this color at the beginning of September, it’s really superb. »
« – It’s quite pretty, it’s off to a good start, having seen them since we were
born, it looks quite abundant and plentiful – Are you from Arbois?
– Yes, but we live in Paris, but like many of our friends, we come back
every year for the Biou weekend, because it’s an institution, a
celebration where we all get together. And that’s a highlight of the year.
Stéphane Tissot: – Let’s run it to see what happens.
It’s superb there, the winegrowers have worked well, have a great year! »
The next morning, we find Stéphane, with three of his friends. They are preparing
to carry the offering to the church. These winemakers carry the biou every
year, until they feel that another winemaker deserves to take up the torch.
“Shall we stop at the square?” Twenty seconds, last year we did it… Stop. »
Practicing or not, the people of Arbois go to church in large numbers to celebrate the biou.
Much more than a celebration of the grape harvest, this festival is above all a tribute
to their land and their region. With this offering, the people of Arbois are
perpetuating three centuries of tradition and renewing the hope of a good vintage. The biou will remain hanging above
the altar until the end of the harvest. Their duty accomplished, the bearers are excused
from the service and disappear to the sacristy. “It is a privilege that has existed for
several decades or centuries, in any case we take the right that is granted to us. We
must still keep a little for the bishop” ” – I am always impressed by the elevation,
everything we have done is hanging from this cable, I always get a little thrill.
– Go to the biou. » We will meet Stéphane in winter to
make his straw wine. Another of the treasures of the Jura is the forest.
It covers almost half of the territory and is the largest fir forest in Europe.
Of exceptional quality, these trees have become a
precious element of the Jura habitat. We are in the south of the Jura. Here,
spruce has protected the facades of houses for three centuries. It is one of the best
defenses against the ravages of time. Robert Dromard is a wood lover. With a
hammer and a few nails, he covers the facades of the Haut Jura with spruce tiles: tavaillons.
“It serves to protect the facades from bad weather, so that the walls do not get
wet. So a good shingle is a shingle that lasts as long as possible,
a hundred years and it will turn gray. » Robert lays 100 shingles per square meter.
“It’s good Guillaume” A know-how that he passes on to his apprentice
Guillaume and his young intern Léo. “Leo, you’re going to start from there. »
At 14, Léo already imagines himself as a roofer. “You make sure to cross the joints
by at least 2 cm to align them properly. In the other direction this one. You line up… Normally we
‘re straddling the two, that’s it, like that. » A rigorous skill that is passed down
from generation to generation, and on the neighboring house, Robert only needs a glance
to trace the history of the facade. “If you look closely here, there are two kinds
of nails. There are nails like this, like the ones we use that were put in
about 130 years ago, before this cladding, there was another one that lasted just as long.
And when they redid the shingles they left the slats. Do you see these slats? They
were hung with forged nails. This is a forged nail that held the shingles, and what
is surprising is that this nail was not 130 years ago, it is 200-250 years old and it remained in good condition and it
held the shingles twice, now we see that the slats are a little rotten but if we
look closely the shingles still work. » Being able to withstand time and bad weather
is the whole point of shingles. An ecological material, more in tune with the times than ever.
“When we talk about sustainable development, we use local materials, with relatively
little transport, little energy to implement them , it lasts a hundred years and
after a hundred years, we can light the fire with it. We ‘re right in it without even meaning to. »
Forgotten in the 70s, shingle is now enjoying a new lease of life. Robert
takes us to discover one of his latest projects, the gîte that Benjamin Sevessand
will open in a few days. “The most difficult facade to access”
Robert completed this project in one month, with two apprentices.
“I think that shingle is a very modern material, and it was
really a choice, both aesthetically and for the product. And to promote local work,
we had a tiler 2 km away, so we still had to try to highlight his work.
There is no maintenance, for a color change there is no scaffolding to put up.
The ancients understood everything: they knew what it was for and how it would age.
I want it to be the same. It is to rise that we can make modern buildings
using heritage materials. » With 30,000 wooden tiles and
36,000 nails, Benjamin’s cottage is now protected for more than a century.
But to make the shingle last so long, Robert has a secret.
And to discover it, you have to gain some height.
The trees he needs are only found in certain remote corners of the Jura forest.
Head to an altitude of 1,200 meters in search of the most beautiful spruce trees.
“Well, listen Robert, there’s this one. – Ah yes, that’s a wood that interests me.
– Okay, let’s move a little closer.” Like every year in October, Robert has an
appointment with Serge Mermet, a forest ranger from the National Forestry Office.
” – He has exactly the right criteria. Already, in terms of appearance: few branches at the bottom, very round, beautiful bark. I’ll
check if the fiber is straight, that’s it. I take off a tiny bit and then pull into
the inner bark, then the tip of my device follows the vein. And then I realize that I
simply have a tree that has a straight grain, it’s exactly the kind of tree I
need for the work I do.” It’s the big day, Robert is going to cut 15
spruce trees to make a year’s worth of shingles. “I wouldn’t miss that day for the
world. It’s not a holiday, but it’s certainly a good time of year. »
This forest giant measures more than 30 meters. His fall will be delicate. Christophe
Millet, the lumberjack, has a very specific technique for checking the notch.
“With the tips of my hands on each side, I check if it is relatively correct,
taking into account the branches above and the wind that has risen. We’re off to the slaughter,
so Robert, I’ll give you a sign, you’re going to put the corner there, on the little swell. You start
with the smallest one, normally it should be fine. If the wind dies down, that’s great. »
High-risk operation because now everything is a question of precision. We must not hurt anyone
and control the fall of this 4-ton colossus. ” Attention ! Get out of here. Oh my
God! Hot, huh? Yes, just. » “It’s a little rotten in the center but
I think it doesn’t go very far. If we want to know the age of the tree, we start
from the center, we count the number of rings, roughly if it is about thirty cm, if the
shoots are one mm, we arrive at 300 years. ” These trees, several
hundred years old, are rare woods, the same as those sought after by luthiers.
With these 15 trees, Robert will create around ten shingle facades.
“Question Réal: – Is n’t it sad to cut down trees?
– No, because we say to ourselves that the forest needs renewal, we say to ourselves we’re
going to remove that one, look, the little fir tree will grow, the little spruce will revive… Hop, look
at my foot. We will leave room for others. “A forest that is not exploited at all
is a forest that is dying. It’s becoming a nasty forest that you can’t get anything
out of, so it’s very, very important that it ‘s managed and maintained properly. ”
Collecting, maintaining and also planting the forests of tomorrow is the ONF’s mission.
For this, foresters have been collecting the best tree seeds for centuries.
In 1860, in the Jura, they developed an astonishing technique for finding the
best seeds at the very top of the trees. A tradition that continues today.
Francis and Julien are what we call squirrels; there are only four of them
in France who do this high-risk job for the ONF. With these aluminum ladders,
Francis will climb the most beautiful spruce tree in the forest to pick pine cones. An
operation that fascinates Robert. The chosen tree is a 35-meter spruce in the prime of life.
“The most beautiful seeds are at the very top of the tree and we have no choice, we have to
climb to the very top to collect them. » “In any case, it’s a very physical job.
And then there is this notion of risk, he is on the ladder, he has his little strap. »
Francis is now 20 meters above the ground, the hardest part remains to be done.
“Well, let’s attack the branches, let’s go. » Francis is still confident but
now he pulls himself up using only his arms. “You have to try to keep
three points of support at all times to avoid getting unhooked, so that I don’t go down 35 meters. I
will start harvesting. I have training as a tree surgeon, and when I joined
the ONF, I was asked if I was interested, I tried with a colleague, then after that you
have to have skills, you have to be physically fit, not too afraid of heights. »
It will take Francis a good hour to harvest 40 kilos of cones, the fruit of the spruce tree.
“I’m going to throw the bag away, be careful underneath. I would like to see what’s in there…”
After so many risks, the fruit of the harvest is the greatest reward.
“When they start to peel, it’s ripe, it opens and then
the wind disperses the seeds. -A lot of effort for the tiny seed…”
These cones will now join the Joux drying facility a few kilometers
away. A unique place in France. This granary of our forests preserves the seeds
of all the species of France. Several tons of seeds are processed here every
year to replant the forests of tomorrow. This cold room therefore contains
enough stock to reforest the whole of France. As the autumn construction sites
gradually come to an end, a new season begins for Robert: it is
time to make the shingles. The smell of the essences, the contact with the
wood, the love of his profession begins there. “We can see the sap circulating… We can make
sweets with it, it smells really good!” When you have a lot of bark, when you come home in the evening
and you have this smell of resin everywhere, you don’t rush to take off your
clothes because you feel good in them. » During the winter, Robert will thus
shape 120,000 spruce tiles. In the tranquility of his workshop, Robert refines each tile.
“I start in December and work until April in
the workshop. We make the stove with the scraps of wood that are not used for making shingles,
we watch the snow through the window, and then when we are tired of being in the workshop we go for
a little ski tour around the house. “It ‘s the beginning of October, at 1400 meters, the
first snow has fallen on the mountain pastures. Robert left his workshop, accompanied by his
son Béranger. Today they come to share a moment that has become rare in the Jura.
“Shake your feet a bit. Hello everyone! ”
With his friends, he is preparing to bring the cows back down from the mountain pastures. This is called the désalpe.
A tradition that had disappeared and that Claude Fleury revived.
“- Claude is a bell collector. He has a certain amount, how much?
– More than 600 – He is the one who started the
désalpe. The animals for a while, they came down in trucks.
– Then I said it’s still badly done… So I said I’ll provide the bells and we’ll do the descent from the mountain pastures. »
These cows will wear bells typical of the Swiss Jura, the most
imposing of which are toupins. And a toupin worthy of the name weighs up to 19 kilos.
– A pure Simmental, which weighs 650 kilos, she carries it very well.
– There is a way to walk, there are cows that ring the bells well.
– Oh yes, there are some, they rock well. » Bells but also flowers to illustrate
the shared pride of belonging to the rural world. “We tend to put flowers on small ones,
those with horns, for example, are better for hanging, but above all, we have to
make something pretty overall… Like a bouquet. ”
And today, the leader of the revue is her, Carla.
“That’s the one that will normally be in front; We call this one, it
follows us, it’s a bit like a dog. » The 45 cows are ready, the shepherd in
official attire can give the start. “Yeeep yeeep yeeep yeeeeep!” ”
And the herd set off for a 15-kilometer descent. The désalpe is a
moment of sharing, celebration, reunion, but it is also the joy of being part
of a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages. And for Claude, it is a moment of intense emotion.
“The descent from the Alps is sacred. It is part of a heritage that must be preserved above all.
When you hear that… It stays with me. ” The escorts have an important role: to prevent
the cows from running away. Mutual aid is the whole point of the désalpe.
“For me, it’s mainly an opportunity to go for a walk, to accompany the cows and
then we’re in the forest, the pastures, the mountains: everything we love…”
Last moments of freedom for the herd before returning to the warmth of the stable. With
a breathtaking view of the Mont Blanc massif. Back to the west of the massif where
a small, well-protected paradise is located: 50 years ago, there was a valley here with
its farms, fields and herds of cows. Today it is Lake Vouglans, the
third largest artificial lake in France. But it is also a sanctuary. In its
depths, this lake hides the remains of a 12th century monastery. After the
construction of the dam in 1969, this historic monument was submerged by water.
Archives Built in the Middle Ages, this monastery is one of the oldest of the Carthusian order. During
the French Revolution, the monks were driven out and it was then sold to individuals. In 1968,
the construction of the dam forced the last owners to abandon the charterhouse. She
then drowned at a depth of more than 60 meters. Today, the Chartreuse region
fascinates diving enthusiasts. “Can I give you my equipment?” » A
specialist in extreme diving, Gérald Naigeon will introduce it to Thierry Hustin.
He came specially from Belgium to explore this unique monument.
And for 18 years, this charterhouse has become a real passion for Gérald.
“At first it’s a dive, then you want to know what it’s all about and then you
dig deeper and fall in love with the building. » “I am very happy to discover Gérald
today to benefit from his knowledge of the building. To have an exceptional dive. ”
At 60 meters deep, the dive is certainly exceptional but also dangerous. To
limit the risks, Gérald and Thierry will be accompanied by two other divers.
First step, identify the route using the latest photos of the building.
“The idea is to take this corridor, there is the porch which is on the other side which is
hidden by the hotel building but which we have a view of on the other plane. Then take
this corridor with Gothic vault, so with two windows, one door, two windows. Perfect »
At these depths, the water is at 4°C and it is pitch black. The pressure is such that
specific equipment is used. In addition to his 60 kilos of equipment, Thierry also brought
his camera from Belgium. Images that will allow Gérald to better promote the Chartreuse.
“It’s a standard camera. The only thing is that there is a nice waterproof box, especially
to the pressures. We will descend to 60 meters, which means approximately 7 kilos per
square centimeter, so on the box we will have more than 150 kilos pressing
on it. It’s very high-tech equipment that allows us to bring back beautiful memories. »
Gérald has already dived around fifty times on the Chartreuse but the thrill is still there.
“Happy but still a little stressed, I have to be honest. It’s so much
preparation, before the dive, we’re there saying to ourselves, that’s normal when we’re
on it, so yes it’s fantastic. » At such a depth, diving times are
limited, Thierry and Gérald only have 13 minutes to film the remains of the Chartreuse.
Images that they comment on at the end of the dive:
“This is the entrance to the corridor on the ground floor, really the first
corridor, with all the windows on the side, we can see them clearly there. There is a kind of cavity,
certainly for a statue, a niche. So I came out of the building, you can clearly see the chalk
that has built up over the years. This is the entire wooden cornice. Do you realize that
the wood has been underwater for more than 40 years and it is still intact! And there we enter
the room where there is a kitchen piano. It is still well buried under the silt. »
A moving experience for Thierry. “We enter someone
else’s house so we already have a certain humility because we enter a building that we don’t
know, of course we think about all the history, all the people who were in this
building in the years or centuries before… It’s true that it’s captivating. »
The discovery continues, behind these trees. Gérald has a surprise in store for Thierry
: part of the charterhouse saved from the waters… In 1969, before the immersion, the
public authorities agreed to spare part of the charterhouse. These entrance pavilions
were then dismantled and rebuilt stone by stone a few steps from the lake. This
construction is an essential key to imagining the appearance of the monastery in the Middle Ages.
“It’s about 1/15 to 1/20 of the monastery. We don’t realize the
dimension underwater because we don’t have enough light. When we have our spot, we have this piece of wall. You
have to imagine the size of this building, it’s impossible. Even after walking around the
back for 12 minutes to try and get an idea, you get a very fragmented view of the building. ”
In addition to the entrance, some remains of the Chartreuse allow us to imagine the size of the place.
“These two columns, pillars were also reassembled, they were
located at the top of the large terrace. » A terrace but also two cloisters,
a church and a chapel where only ten monks lived.
“There are some interesting remains. This stone is the cemetery cross.
One of the principles of the Carthusians is that they must not be afraid of death, so in order not to be
afraid of it, they must be constantly confronted with it, so the Carthusian cells were arranged
around the cemetery; every time they went out, they came face to face with the cemetery. »
« This makes me want to dig even deeper into the history of the monastery to better
understand how they lived. There is still more digging to be done in both senses of the
word, underwater and in the archives. » On the banks of Lake Vouglans, the charterhouse has
not yet revealed all its secrets. 50 km away, the Jura is home to an astonishing folly…
In a green setting… A Venetian Palace. An
exact copy of a masterpiece by Andrea Palladio, the leading architect of the
Italian Renaissance. Harmony of proportions, symmetry of facades, in the 19th century, a
man from the Jura fell in love with the Palladian style. This gem is now a guest house.
“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome!” My name is Brigitte and I am
the happy guardian of the treasure. The couple: – Beautiful treasure! »
This couple comes to treat themselves to the Venetian dream in the middle of the Jura. He is
received by Brigitte Cannard. For 10 years, she and her husband have dedicated themselves to preserving
this Palladian villa by opening it to the public. Inspired by the Italian master, the rotunda,
which always surprises visitors… ” – Now that’s impressive.
– How high is this rotunda? – 16 meters high.
– The initial vocation? – So in fact we are at the heart of the house:
it is its lung. It is truly an Italianate theatre, a small theatre with a series of
eight columns with neoclassical decor painted in gold and an elevation of three balconies.
And then it was made to accommodate musicians. There are wonderful acoustics. »
An exceptional dome that one day changed the lives of Brigitte and her husband Claude
when they were looking for a house to buy. “There was an ad that said the
following: so 90 km from Besançon, 90 km from Dijon, and 90 km from Geneva,
neo-Palladian villa 10 hectares of park, Pompeian decor and there was a photo of the rotunda. We
made an appointment, we did the tour and then we lost sleep. We thought it was
impossible, that it was simply so beautiful and that it was not within our means
at all, but a few days passed and we really saw ourselves taking care of this house. »
A house where time seems to have stopped at the beginning of the 19th century. Here everything has remained as the
owner Emmanuel Jobez had imagined it. “Monseigneur’s room. Here is a beautiful
four-poster bed with chiseled bronze, therefore gilded. Beautiful wallpaper with trompe-l’oeil scenes
that are installed above the doors and it is very interesting, it recalls the scenes
discovered in those years in Pompeii. The great excavations of Pompeii fascinated
intellectuals from all over the world at the beginning of the 19th century and it is important to remember that Jobez,
this family in the depths of the Jura, was nevertheless interested in all sorts of subjects. » A
poet in his spare time, Emmanuel Jobez is a scholar. He dreams of the Italian Renaissance but does
not want to do without the modernity of the 19th century. Above this fireplace, a
very rare device. Instead of a mirror, a simple pane of glass allows you to see yourself from one living room to another.
Another innovation: the frescoes of the Palladian villas of the Renaissance were replaced
by trompe l’oeil wallpapers, eminently fashionable in the 19th century. Here Psyche and Cupid
drawn by the painter David for the prestigious wallpaper manufacturer Zuber. A set
that has miraculously escaped the ravages of time. For 10 years, keeping the villa intact
has been a constant task for Brigitte and Claude . Today, Henry Jeaney,
a young cabinetmaker from the region, brings back the last pieces of furniture he has restored.
“We’ll put it here and I’ll move this one. »
Brigitte gave up her professional career to devote herself
entirely to maintaining the house. “Is it solid otherwise?” Can I try it
? So it is considered usable. I am delighted. We put the little table
where you took it. It’s a piece of furniture that certainly held
flower pots, everything was terribly damaged, I had almost no more checkerboard. »
Next mission for Henry, this Charles X pedestal table.
« – The top, for me, is still the major problem.
– The simplest thing is to redo a piece in marquetry, but that can be redone without any problem.
– Great ! » “It’s a bit of a cabinetmaker restorer’s dream to
see everything that the craftsmen were capable of doing at the time and then we are bringing
their work back to life by preserving the furniture heritage that they left us. »
For two centuries the house has kept all its furniture, a particularly rare fact which
contributed to Brigitte and Claude’s love at first sight. “All the furniture that is here has never
left the house, that is the charm of the place, it is because of the presence of
this furniture that has never left this universe that we feel this harmony, there has not been
any personal contribution made to this house; ” Among the marvels of the villa is this wallpaper
from 1827. It represents a mythical Napoleonic battle : the Italian campaign. This is the last
complete example exhibited in France but its condition is worrying… It is urgent to save it.
“It is in this staircase that you will have an extremely meaningful approach…”
Today, Brigitte and Claude welcome Agnès Vallet, restorer of
old papers. She comes to take stock of the situation. “The interesting thing is that
the wallpaper is not stuck on the wall because that is something that could
complicate not the restoration but in any case the removal and in general that is the most
difficult thing in the restoration of wallpaper, is to be able to remove it from the wall. » «
– Where there are gaps, how are you going to do it?
– So where there are gaps, there are a few but they are not
huge but I think we will come there to make inlays with Japanese paper”
The damage to the paper was probably aggravated by its atypical location.
“Often panoramic wallpapers are installed in rooms
where you have a 360° view to see the whole story. And
often the wallpapers were 3 or 4 meters long; The sky was
often 2 meters high and was cut according to the height of the room. »
A few days later, the rescue begins. The operation promises to be extremely
difficult. So Agnès called on another restorer to help her.
“This is really the strip that is in the worst condition. It’s torn all the way across
so we finally decided we were going to remove that part alone and the other one
underneath; finally really separate them. ” The main risk is that the paper will fall
apart, so before any serious handling, it must be consolidated.
“We apply a thin veil of Japanese paper which should be about 11-12 grams with a
glue which we apply with a brush and which is very diluted so that it can be removed once we have
removed the wallpaper. » «I didn’t even understand the
number of injuries there were on the panels, it’s huge in fact. »
Another difficulty: removing the paper from the canvas underneath.
“Won’t you take the big wooden spatula?”
– Yes, but it’s much less sticky. – Okay, we’re here.
– So I’m dropping this. – Do you see the non-woven fabric? »
On the back, traces of mold. “It’s very moldy behind.”
– It was about time! And then there’s dust too. It’s good ?
– I have it in my hand. ” Once the tape is removed, the ravages of
time are even more spectacular. But not a minute to lose, there are
still about ten to remove. It will take all day.
The restorer has given us an appointment in 3 months for the rest of the Italian campaign.
Upstairs, Claude is working on a very ambitious project: the reconstruction of the
original library. When Brigitte and Claude arrived here, the 35,000 volumes of the
Jobez family had disappeared. But thanks to Claude, the books are gradually finding their place back on
the shelves. To do this, he uses this exceptional manuscript: the inventory of all the works.
“So I had absolutely everything, I knew exactly where the Jobez books were when
they were there and what those books were. » For Claude it was the beginning of an
incredible treasure hunt. “I have already been able to find some works;
for example number 969 ‘course in ancient and modern literature’ by François Laharpe.
Well I’ll show you. Here it is: literature course by Jean-François Laharpe »
So when Claude is not in his physiotherapy office, he continues his research
with the aim of opening this library to the public. As the months passed, the cold settled
over the Palladian Villa. It is the grand return of part of the Italian campaign.
“So we’ll have to put it upright…” Agnès finished restoring the wallpaper and
fixed it to frames to make it easier to hang. “That’s one of the pieces that was
really damaged, I honestly didn’t think
it would come back like that, even though I was confident. It’s splendid,
she did an extraordinary job. After weeks of meticulous
gouache retouching, the comparison of the paper before and after restoration is breathtaking.
“ I’m happy, there’s good light like
this, there will be some small adjustments to be made. » « – It’s important to think that it’s stabilized,
it won’t move… I don’t know how long it lasts?
– There is no… – But it’s made for 100 years at least we hope.
– Normally we make sure that aging goes as far as possible. »
It will take a few more months for the rest of the Italian campaign to
find its place on the staircase. Return to Arbois.
The city is not only a mecca of wine, it is also the home of one of the greatest
chocolatiers in France. In the heart of the city, Stéphane Tissot, our winemaker, only has to
cross the square to visit his friend, Edouard Hirsinger.
“Hey there, darling!” How are you ? – Hi Steph »
Hirsinger, a famous name in Arbois for 4 generations.
“I’m making little flowers, I’m going to put that on my tarts as decoration, there you go, on my
little raspberry tarts, because on red, it brightens the cake, since it’s the end of the
season they become purple so we have nuances of tones it’s super cute”
For Edouard, his garden is above all a place of inspiration.
“The garden is family-oriented, it’s a vegetable garden. There is the paternal part,
separated from the son with an alley. And then there are also aromatic herbs and plants
that are used to make products, whether pastries,
confectionery or chocolate. And then at the bottom there are kiwis. ”
There is also a Jura plant with a sulphurous reputation…
” – I’m going to pick some absinthe for my last summer chocolates. You see?
Look, it’s growing back. So this is absinthe, so it’s very fragrant, and that’s what
I use to make a ganache to make a summer chocolate. – Is this a tribute to your region?
Perhaps it’s my roots, my mother comes from a small village near Pontarlier,
Pontarlier was the capital of absinthe. At the end of the 19th century, hundreds and thousands
of hectoliters of absinthe were produced in Pontarlier and it flooded the whole of France. »
The famous absinthe. The green fairy, who was said to drive people mad. Banned in 1915, its recipe
was modified and then authorized again in 2001. To celebrate the event, Edouard
had the idea of a confectionery. With this plant typical of the region, it is
the taste of the Jura that Edouard wants to infuse into his chocolates. And it took many
trials to find the right balance between the sweetness of cocoa and the bitterness of absinthe.
“There you go, with three little branches we make all this chocolate; about 200 pieces. »
To enhance the absinthe flavors, Edouard coats the ganache with
homemade almond paste which magically disappears under a veil of chocolate.
Finally, to tickle the taste buds, a star anise. Navigating between tradition and
innovation, Edouard claims chocolates in keeping with the authenticity of his terroir.
“There are plants that we pick in nature to make chocolates, depending on the
season. For example, gentian puck, it is a flower that grows in the
Jura mountains, and it is used to flavor almond paste. We also have nuts and curry, we made this chocolate
to enjoy with yellow wine. Local products are a part of me,
a part of my identity, and I think that we should be proud of our origins rather than trying to
deny them. For example, I have a strong accent, it’s part of my personality, you have to
be authentic, not try to be something other than what you are. Chocolates
are a bit like the image of myself” An authenticity rooted in the place, since
for four generations, the Hirsinger family has always worked in the same house.
Head to the basement where Edouard and his father Claude have set up a real museum. Among the
treasures is the 1900 display case. But Claude’s great pride is a pre-war innovation.
“So the automatic ice cream dispenser, Dad bought it in 1938, we put it on
the arcade and it was a machine that worked in the summer of 1938 and the summer of 1939. The war
came, we closed the shop for 5 years. It’s a preservative, not a refrigerator. Every
morning we put batteries and small pots of ice into the barrel on each side
and we managed to have 100 pots of ice in there. When we reopened the shop,
the man who had set it up said, ‘I’ll put it back into operation,’ but we never
could because the currency was too unstable.” With inflation, the price of ice cream
keeps rising, the coin-operated machine can’t keep up, the vending machine is abandoned. Another curiosity:
Edouard’s grandfather’s worktop. Many of these utensils have become very rare.
– Hand for the flour. In the past, scales were rarely used; the units
corresponded to people’s physiology. We dipped our hands into the flour and it
corresponded to a certain volume. And then it was grandpa who made the whips, right?
– Yes, he bent the iron rods and they were driven into the wood like nails. He gave
the right curve and then he tightened it just right with a very fine wire. So that’s for
working creams or beating egg yolks. – And then we also have something
that is quite rare, it is the horn, when we say horned it is to collect the inside of a
container with now a plastic object but in the past it was real cow horn.
So this is a real horn so it was soaked in water to make it flexible.
– Very flexible like rubber. It’s true that every object has a
story… And what a story! » Since 1900, the Hirsinger family has
passed down the equipment and manufacturing secrets from father to son. Among the legendary recipes:
candied chestnuts. It’s November, and it’s the beginning of the season.
Traditionally it starts with friends, with a first peeling.
“That’s called the chestnut’s ass, so we start with the ass. We slide the knife between the
skin and the fruit and pull like this. And a guy who knows how to peel well makes big pieces,
someone who doesn’t makes small ones. So we’re going to judge you by your pile of fluff! ”
Among the evening workers, Sylvie, Edouard’s wife, but also Stéphane Tissot our
winemaker and some enthusiasts who came from far away. “There is an Irishman, with a little
goatee: Alts. It was the chestnuts who introduced us 5 or 6 years ago.
“It took me 3 years to convince him to let me into his business and
then he can’t get rid of me. I am a chocolatier and confectioner by trade
and I wanted to preserve a tradition, especially since the
Hirsinger house is over a hundred years old. So there were things here that you
couldn’t learn anywhere else. » Indeed, the Hirsinger house is today one
of the very last in France to make candied chestnuts in a 100% artisanal way.
“- Everyone used to do them. When my great-grandfather did
this, there was nothing exceptional about it, and the more it progresses, the more
exceptional it becomes, given the labor time, the time spent doing all the
manufacturing stages to arrive at the finished product. This scares pastry chefs and it has
gradually stopped. It is a know-how that is being lost. So how do the others do it? I
– They buy chestnuts in syrup in cans. What do specialist companies do
– Why do you continue? – I feel a duty to continue in relation
to my father and my grandfather who have always done this, so I have no right to stop.
And what’s more, as Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the spirit of the competition means being the guardian of a
know-how and a tradition, so we have one and we’re not going to let it go.
– When you’re going to preserve, are you going to add herbs?
– Vanilla is all.” And this evening they will peel 16 kilos of
chestnuts, a tenth of the Christmas production. The next day, the first firing is
finished. Delicacy and patience are the key words for successful chestnuts. A
trick reserved for professionals and for the occasion Edouard’s father put his hat back on.
“This is the last step of the plush process, it’s the longest, the most delicate. Even if you take
care, the last bit of skin bursts in your hands, it infuriates you because
you’ve been on it for several minutes and instead of making a whole chestnut, it makes crumbs. »
For Claude, rediscovering the gestures inherited from his own father is always a great emotion.
“I am very happy for myself first of all, and then I think of my ancestors who see Edouard
and who must be very happy to see that everything continues, that the gestures are still there.”
Immersed in a vanilla syrup, the chestnuts will cook very slowly for 24 hours.
“Still so soft. Sad to say they are almost better than when people buy them freshly drained and
full of syrup. This is really the best
time to taste them, they are really great. ” And it’s up to Miguel to put the finishing touches.
“So this is one of the last steps, and one of the crucial steps of candied chestnuts, we are going to
make a curtain of icing on the chestnuts then we are going to put them in the oven which will
create a small shiny crust which will help preserve the chestnut. »
The chestnuts barely out of the oven, Sylvie, Edouard’s wife, takes
over their preparation. “They look beautiful when they are very clear like
this, when there is not too much of a sugar coating . Now you want to bite into it.
They really have to be flawless. » A confectionery that is
only enjoyed during the holidays. With its wild landscapes, the Jura
is a territory that has remained unspoiled. Between lakes and forests, it is an
ideal land for a rich and varied fauna. Some rare species are
nevertheless threatened. A few kilometers from Lons Le Saunier, a shelter offers a
second chance to injured animals. Like every morning, Gilles
Moyne makes the rounds of care. This is a wild cat, a species that is virtually
impossible to observe in the wild. “I put an antibiotic ointment in her eye
since she had a corneal injury. She was in a collision with a car and
therefore suffered an injury to her eyeball. Besides, her right eye can’t see anything anymore, so
she can only make out shapes. It has very limited potential for harm. So she was found
in a field, completely emaciated because after the shock she could no longer hunt at all.
In a few months, this wild cat will be free again, unlike its neighbors. Boris and Ludmilla are two superb lynx, an
emblematic breed of the Haut-Jura. Taken in 7 years ago, they have never known life in the forest.
“They are quite placid despite having spent almost their entire existence in captivity; they
must have been captured very young. These are animals that have remained wild, never familiar,
so they always have a safe distance from us,
they will never try to approach. They have typical lynx behavior”
Ludmilla serves as a foster mother for injured lynx cubs taken in at the shelter.
She is the one who completes their education. This is what happened to Fario, a 6-month-old lynx
rescued in 2009. A few weeks earlier, his mother had been killed by hunters.
So Fario was wandering around injured and vulnerable. Without Gilles his chances of survival were almost zero.
Gilles Moyne is today the only specialist in France authorized to capture and
care for wild lynx. Barely seized, the young lynx receives its first treatment.
After being treated for several months at the shelter, Fario then regained his strength and was
released the following spring. An emotional moment for all the
association’s volunteers. Felines aren’t the only animals
Gilles takes care of. He also treats a large number of injured storks.
“We are on a migratory axis, they go around the Jura arc to
go to Africa for the winter and therefore they are led to have unfortunate
encounters with the electricity network. ” In the group, an astonishing black stork.
“We only know of 40 couples in France. So this is a young man who was also involved in a
collision with a power line and who may be released this spring. »
Another resident is luckier because she will find her way back to
freedom today: she is an imposing female eagle owl.
“That huffing and clicking of the tongue is only meant to intimidate. So
obviously deer are very dangerous, so we can imagine the fate of the fox cub who
is caught because he can also catch young foxes, so he is caught in
his deer and he really has no chance. » Before parting ways, a few steps are
necessary to ensure she is ready to return to her old life.
“So, 2 kilos 160… 2 kilos 140. Wing size: 442. It has a
wingspan of about 1m60. It is the largest nocturnal bird of prey in Europe, and is also the night eagle.
It is an animal that had become so rare that there was only one
known pair in the Jura about twenty years ago and now it
has recolonized the department and the region. » The owl is installed in a cardboard box
to prevent injuries during transport. The end of the day is the best time
to release this nocturnal raptor. “We always invite volunteers to this
kind of event, it’s more fun. » Gilles decided to release
the owl at Lake Vouglans. Calm and wooded, it is the ideal space for
the animal to find its bearings. And tonight, it’s Gwendoline the intern who is in charge.
“You know how to hold it: index finger, thumb, middle finger. You’re already putting your hand behind your back.
We will arrange to release him in that direction; the direction of the small
wooded area, the scrubland where he will probably be able to perch and then get his bearings. »
“It’s very impressive and then the beak clicking is a bit
scary. Knowing that he turns his head a lot, it’s indescribable, it’s
really an experience to have. » « Gilles: -Perhaps move forward
a little bit over here. So you may have noticed that the flight is completely
silent and the major advantage of the eagle owl is that it arrives unexpectedly at its prey. »
“It’s very moving and I admit that I was a little scared when I released him, that he would
turn towards me and attack me, but it’s okay. » Every year, Gilles and his association
release more than 600 animals. Heading towards Haut-Jura, 30 km as the crow flies,
near the Swiss border. We arrive at an altitude of 1150 meters at Fort des Rousses, the
second largest fortress in France. Designed by Napoleon Bonaparte to
protect himself from Austrian attacks, it took 1,500 workers
30 years to build. Today, its 50,000m2 of vaulted rooms house
the most incredible cheese cellar. Here, 80,000 wheels are patiently refined to
express the best of the Jura terroir. At Fort des Rousses, we don’t make
comté cheese. We give them time. And it is here that Stéphane, our winemaker,
chooses the best comtés to accompany his wines. The opportunity for Jean-Charles Arnaud,
the master of the place, to reveal his secrets to him. “If you know how to listen to a grindstone it will teach you
a lot of things. She will tell you about her texture: if I have a sound that is very clear, I
will certainly have a slightly dry, slightly restrained dough; If I go towards
something more serious, a little bit fuller, I will find a smoother texture. ”
This nuance is not a coincidence: it is explained by the exceptional quality
of the fort’s cellars. A revelation that struck Jean-Charles from his first visit.
“It’s a somewhat mythical place, because it’s in this cellar that I dived, despite
the slightly frightening aspect of the investment, I said to myself ‘I have to do this cellar
’ it was obviously bare but I already imagined it full of cheeses, if I do
n’t do a maturing cellar in this Fort des Rousses, I’ll regret it all my life. ”
And Jean Charles was not mistaken. Today, Fort des Rousses is recognized throughout
France as the temple of Comté. Every day, dozens of new
millstones arrive at the fort. Once identified, they are then placed on these spruce boards for a stay of 4 to 36 months.
“It smells good there, we know where we are. – This is what I call the nursery.
These are cheeses that are 15 days old, still extremely marshmallowy, extremely
supple. And that’s the first step. » After their arrival, the millstones are
salted twice a week. This is one of the secrets of crust formation.
In a few hours, the grains of salt melt and then an astonishing machine comes into play
. A robot for turning cheese. After a quick brush stroke, he turns the
comté over before putting it back in exactly the same place. With 44 kilos per wheel, the refiners at Le Fort are spared a lot of elbow
grease and backache . This is the Holy
of Holies, the cellar of exceptional cheeses where Stéphane will taste a 6-month-old comté.
“- Look, it’s elastic, youthful, supple,
– It’s super fruity. A little touch of fruit and hazelnut.
This little white film, this white skin that we have on hazelnuts,
we have it here and there, we have a little touch of bitterness that goes with it. »
Further on, a rare cheese over 3 years old. It would correspond to a 50-year-old wine.
“- Out of a potential of 10 wheels, how many can last more than 3 years?
– You shouldn’t say 10 millstones; – Should we say 100 hundred millstones?
– We must say 1000 wheels and talk about 5 or 6 cheeses, which age while improving. ”
In the Jura, patience and time are the key to flavors, for
cheeses but also for wines. Months passed in Arbois.
It’s January. In Stéphane Tissot’s attic, the grapes stored
in the fall are now ready for straw wine . After four months in these crates,
they are ready for the next step: pressing.
“ They are cool!” This was the side of the grape
in contact with the straw, always well preserved, always exceptional and above we have
very candied grapes, like raisins, it is interesting to have 15-20%. It brings
a lot of smoothness, a lot of fat to the wine.” Today, Stéphane’s father takes
the opportunity to take a look at his son’s work. André Tissot started the
estate in 1962, but it was Stéphane who, 40 years later, opted for organic farming.
“In 20 years, we will have 80% of French vineyards cultivated organically, that
would be good. A few years ago, I was not very in favor of
this system. I learned about the culture he does with my father 50
years ago, we worked the soil: ploughing, earthing up, tilling. People didn’t really know about picking up the pickaxe
. » “As my dad says, you go forward by going
backward, he often told me that. » A press that operates in winter
is an unusual operation in the daily life of a winemaker. But for
the straw wine, everything is exceptional. “Here we go!” »
It takes twice as long to press the grapes for straw wine
. More than a juice, it’s a nectar that Stéphane and Claude, one of his wine merchants, are going to taste.
And as with wine, it all starts with the nose… “It has great acidity. We have these aromas
which can be a bit like strawberry, apricot, on the fruit, it’s the fruit paste. »
After a year of fermentation and two years in barrels, this is what the straw wine will look like.
“Look at this beautiful color. » Here we are in the oldest cellar of the estate
« Good health! » To celebrate the pressing, Stéphane invited his
friends. We meet Edouard the chocolatier, André-Jean one of the Biou carriers and
Jean-Charles the refiner from Fort des Rousses. “There’s candied orange, which goes well
with straw wine, and then a passion fruit chocolate, it works. »
« On a very old comté which becomes confi, but you know how you like them, that is to say
beyond 24 months or 30 months. We manage to have nice little weddings. »
« It’s a chance for the Jura, we make lots of different wines in relation to our history,
our grape varieties, our history, our terroirs, and in this wide range of wines with
the vin de jaune and the vin de paille, we have very great wines that we
classify among the best wines of France. It’s lucky to have these
two wines in the same region. » Here we are at an altitude of 1000 meters
in the Doubs department. This herd of chamois ventured near
Les Hôpitaux-Neufs, a small, remote village that for generations was
served only by a steam train. The railway track was
dismantled 40 years ago. An unusual association,
Coni’fer, has succeeded in bringing it back to life. “Where are you with the water level
?” You start polishing, you clean. And then the lubrication. »
Quentin and Paul, two young people from the village, take part in the maintenance of the locomotive. Every
day, this beautiful centenarian gets a makeover. “I’m currently using a mixture
of diesel and oil to polish, or rather to clean, the machine. Diesel
is mainly for making things shine. The smell is a bit difficult but you get used to it. When
it shines everywhere it’s magnificent! » “Hard efforts for a good time of pleasure. »
Spruce logs have replaced coal, but the gestures
to keep the locomotive moving are still the same. A real time machine.
“Pressure is good. Water too. Where are you with the fire? »
For Louis Poix, the steam train is the story of a lifetime.
“When they were very young, 10-12 years old, there was still steam and they came twice a
week. And at the time they came on Thursdays so when we didn’t have school and with a friend we
always came to the station where they gave us permission to get into the engine and then
after to put a little coal in it, to drive a little bit and I think that’s where
I was vaccinated and then after I still didn’t know how to drive a steam engine so
I went to my colleagues in Switzerland where there are steam engines running and I
trained like that. Come on, let’s give the air pump a little boost. »
Today Louis is happy to pass on his knowledge to younger people.
“That’s the end result of it all. Because doing this just for us doesn’t make
sense, we have to make it so that people can continue what we do
and what others have done before us too. » For the past two years, Paul has spent all
his free time in the locomotive. “- This is my second home.
– Would you like to make it your career? – It would still exist, yes,
steamer willingly, but unfortunately… – So what do you want to do later?
– I might join the SNCF as a train mechanic. »
Before being dismantled, this line connected Hôpitaux-Neufs to Pontarlier. 16 kilometers
that Louis wants to reconstruct, but for the moment his route still stops halfway.
His dream: to reach the symbol of Haut Doubs, the Château de Joux. This fortress is
located a few kilometers from Pontarlier. It defended one of the main routes
that connected northern France to Italy. Built in the 11th century, this castle
was further remodeled by Vauban in the 17th century. And it was here, well before the revolution, that the
young Mirabeau was imprisoned on the orders of his father, who was exasperated by his dissolute life.
For our railway line the road to the castle is
still long… But it is moving forward. Today is an important day for Louis because
he is extending the route. Resourceful by nature, he convinced the SNCF to give him some reformed rails.
“The rail is perfect. It is very little worn. We’re lucky to have recovered rail
like this, because sometimes you recover rail but it’s much thinner. »
Carrying out this type of operation and safely managing a team of
10 people reminds Louis of his past as a public works contractor.
“Come on, stop!” We must tell Claude that he is moving back 60 cm, no more. »
Today, Louis and his team laid 300 meters of track. An extension
that the association celebrated a few weeks later during an exceptional trip in
the snow. Louis is on a war footing because steam and cold don’t mix well.
“Steam is water at the beginning, and this morning it was minus 12 so all the
little copper pipes are full of water and then it freezes and then it bursts. While we
have filled it with water at 35, we prevent our water from freezing in the small pipes”
Controller: – Louis and Jean in the car please… ” For the occasion, residents of the village
made the trip. On board, cheese fondue and good humor are essential. Supported by the
Doubs department, the association intends to continue to advance this
railway line in the heart of the Jura massif. Winter has settled in Bellecombe,
a small town in the south of the Jura, 50 km from Geneva. A
wild landscape that has become, over the past 20 years, the Eldorado of dog sledding in France.
This is Daniel Mellina, he is Swiss and 20 years ago, he left his life as a business leader
to found a dog breeding farm and organize sled treks to discover the Jura.
“There are dogs that have funny faces, like sled dogs for the
general public. Our dogs are linked to the history of gold prospectors. The gold prospectors arrived
in Alaska with dogs and the dogs they had, the Americans, what they had at that
time were not purebred dogs and that gives dogs like that which do not look alike
, which do not have a unity of appearance like a breed of dogs. English speakers call all
sled dogs Huskies and then they say the origin. So they are Alaska
Huskies. There is only one, what we call a Husky in French, we should say Siberian Husky
: it is Vishnu, the one there who has one blue eye and one brown eye. »
Inseparable from his 50 dogs, Daniel has found his dream living space here.
“For sledding, this is paradise. The Jura arc is not very wide,
my playground you could say it is 4 or 5 kilometers like that but 380 kilometers
to Basel; So for fun it’s fine. » « – Hello
– Daniel – Edouard »
Today, Edouard Hirsinger, the chocolatier from Arbois, is taking a trip off the
beaten track. But before discovering the wild Jura, a driving lesson is essential.
“I’m going to teach you three commands this morning: start, slow down, and stop.
To leave, you often have your foot on the brake because you are stopped, it’s ‘ok dogs’
and it leaves. Or I tell you the name of your lead dog, if you have Vishnu it’s ‘ok
Vishnu’. To stop, it’s ‘Oooh’ like in the movies with horses, it’s easy. It’s
‘Oooooh’ and you brake. And to slow down it’s ‘gently’ and you brake. »
11:36:03 Edouard Hirsinger: “He’s late leaving, it will be better after
; before it’s always a little stressful. » And off we go for a two-hour hike!
“Be careful when you overtake yourself not to hit the dogs with
the sled. Go ahead, go ahead. » During this escapade, Daniel had
a little surprise in store for Edouard: a meeting worthy of the great American North.
Alain is a friend of Daniel. He is a bison breeder.
“It’s a wild animal, so the less noise we make
, the better it will behave. » Alain created this strange farm
about twenty years ago. “When they come out, we all go there. They’ll be here
soon, open it up, go ahead. I’m calling them now so you need to step back. »
“ I came across a herd
of bison in Canada one day, it was the first time I had seen one except in pictures,
books or a film and then it blew me away. I sat down, they didn’t sit down
but they stared at me and then I said: there is something to do together. »
Alain was then one of the first in France to raise bison for their meat and their
fur. At the time, in the eyes of the locals, Alain and Daniel were seen as eccentrics.
“It was funny to see the reaction of some people who said yet
another Indian who is playing tricks on us. Alain was taken for a madman at first.
“What gets this message across is us, the passion we have for what we do where
people are almost listening after a while, not immediately but after a little while
they say ‘they’re not that crazy’. We started a family, we have a passion: Daniel
with his dogs, me with my bison. Everything runs smoothly at the family level, because a passion can
destroy a lot of things too, be careful. ” Today, this
50-head farm is a benchmark. “The bison of the Haut Jura are at a
perfect altitude, we are known for having the most beautiful females in France. »
For Édouard, our chocolatier, this little piece of America in the heart of the Jura is a revelation.
“We have a feeling of power, of strength. And then it’s quiet
in the setting, it’s wonderful. ” This day of adventure is for him an
additional reason to love his region. “It’s a royal department because between what we
experience there and the summer, it’s as if we had 2 countries in 1. Because in the summer we swim in
the lakes; As it is continental it is very hot, we can have 30-35 in the summer and then there is
snow and skiing in the winter. We are privileged. »
Région de lacs et de montagnes, le Jura est un territoire qui abrite des paysages incroyablement variés.
Amoureux de la France et du patrimoine, ses trésors n’auront plus de secrets pour vous 👉https://bit.ly/4dnI1h1
A travers la Franche-Comté, nous partons à la découverte de ce paradis méconnu, entre nature sauvage et produits d’exception.
“Le goût du Jura”
Un documentaire de la collection Des Racines et des Ailes, écrit et réalisé par Katia Chappoutier.
© ECLECTIC PRODUCTION
Tout droits réservés – AMP
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