Haut-Jura: Comté in the Fort des Rousses and the View from the Faucille
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
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Comté Cellar Visitor
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250
XP
+100 France
= 350 total
2 days
Haut-Jura: Comté in the Fort des Rousses and the View from the Faucille
250 + 100 XP
Comté has had an appellation of origin since January 1958 and a protected designation since 1996, and with 60,000 tonnes a year it is France's biggest cheese appellation by volume. Inside the Fort des Rousses — the second largest fortress in France by area, 21 hectares of enceinte over 50,000 m² of vaulted rooms — the Arnaud cheesemakers ripen 190,000 wheels in cellars that hold 8 °C summer and winter. Four kilometres north-east the Lac des Rousses lies among peat bogs in the upper Orbe valley, and to the south the road climbs to the Col de la Faucille at 1,320 m, where the Jura drops away to Lake Geneva and the Alps.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Go down into the vaulted galleries of the Fort des Rousses, held at 8 °C in every season, walk between the racks of 190,000 ripening wheels, and taste the same cheese at different ages to find where the crystals start to crunch
2
of 4
Walk the Lac des Rousses — the only lake in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté whose water goes to the Rhine, not the Rhône — through the peat bogs of the Ramsar wetland round it, and pick out the two limestone ridges that pen the valley in, the Risoux to the west and the Noirmont to the east
3
of 4
Drive up to the Col de la Faucille at 1,320 m, but stop first at the little Pailly car park 1.7 km below it, where the view to Mont Blanc is clear of trees, and at the fontaine Napoléon on the bend below that; from the col, go up to the Petit Mont Rond at 1,534 m for the whole sweep of Lake Geneva
4
of 4
Call in at one of the 150-odd village fruitières on the Routes du Comté when the morning milk is being worked, and see the cheese that takes 450 litres of raw milk for one wheel of 32 to 45 kg — then buy two pieces of different ages at the counter and taste them against each other
Go down into the vaulted galleries of the Fort des Rousses, held at 8 °C in every season, walk between the racks of 190,000 ripening wheels, and taste the same cheese at different ages to find where the crystals start to crunch
Walk the Lac des Rousses — the only lake in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté whose water goes to the Rhine, not the Rhône — through the peat bogs of the Ramsar wetland round it, and pick out the two limestone ridges that pen the valley in, the Risoux to the west and the Noirmont to the east
Drive up to the Col de la Faucille at 1,320 m, but stop first at the little Pailly car park 1.7 km below it, where the view to Mont Blanc is clear of trees, and at the fontaine Napoléon on the bend below that; from the col, go up to the Petit Mont Rond at 1,534 m for the whole sweep of Lake Geneva
Call in at one of the 150-odd village fruitières on the Routes du Comté when the morning milk is being worked, and see the cheese that takes 450 litres of raw milk for one wheel of 32 to 45 kg — then buy two pieces of different ages at the counter and taste them against each other
Before you go
The Comte cellars in the Fort des Rousses run all year but only on days the cheesemakers' work allows, published a couple of weeks to a month ahead, and booking online is compulsory — there is no turning up. The Col de la Faucille is kept open through the winter for the ski station but chains are advised in deep snow, and the Lac des Rousses at 1,075 m and its peat bogs are under snow from December to March, which is a snowshoe walk rather than a stroll.
The Comté cellars in the Fort des Rousses run all year but only on days the cheesemakers' work allows, published a couple of weeks to a month ahead, and booking online is compulsory — there is no turning up. Allow about an hour and a half for the tour. The Col de la Faucille is kept open through the winter for the ski station but chains are advised in deep snow, and the Lac des Rousses and its peat bogs are under snow from December to March, when the lake itself usually freezes hard enough to walk or skate on.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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