Easy Hike near Neuchâtel, Main Attraction: Medieval Village of Valangin

Wednesday March 9, 2022 -- The air is starting to warm up, so walking is getting more comfortable now.

For our mid-week outing this week we decided to go to the French part of Switzerland where we don't often go. What we really would have liked to do is a ridge hike along the Jura range where we have only done a handful of hikes before, but in the West near the border of France, there is still enough snow at those heights to make it unattractive for us.

There are some nice agricultural areas there, though, and cultural sites to visit, so we returned to the area North of Neuchâtel -- in the Val-de-Ruz region -- to visit a castle I had once discovered on my own seven years ago, and I wanted to show it to Urs. We integrated the visit to Valangin Castle (the village of Valangin first documented in 1350) with a visit to the 13th-Century Church at Engollon, which has the only painted murals in Canton Neuchâtel dating from before the time of the Reformation. (As mural painting was something rather Catholic, the ones in other existing churches might have been painted over).

Our easy 12-km walk started in Chézard-St-Martin along National Route no.2 (Trans-Swiss Trail) at the foot of the Jura range, and passed through the wide open Val de Ruz, via the old church at Engollon, another old church in Fenin, Valangin Castle and the "Gorges du Seyon" before reaching the outskirts of the city of Neuchâtel, where we caught a bus back to the train station there. (At Valangin we departed from Route No.2 as it would have meant going over the hill instead of around it. The view along that section is supposed to be better, but since the air was hazy, we wouldn't have seen much of Lake Neuchâtel anyway). 

PART 1:  To get to the outlying areas of Neuchâtel, you have to catch one of many buses departing "downtown". Here are a couple of interesting photos taken in Neuchâtel while waiting for the bus:

Banks are located in some cool buildings here!

Magnolias are starting to flower

Artwork at the Place de Pury in Neuchâtel (there were several such African animal statues)

From Neuchâtel we took the bus via Fontaines and Cernier to start our ca.3-hour hike along National Trail no.2 back toward Neuchâtel (via the Gorges du Seyon)

PART II: Walking through the fields of the Val-de-Ruz, to Engollon, Vilars, and Fenin to look at some old churches before heading down to the medieval town of Valangin

Starting at Grand-Chézard, this first section is on National Trail no.2: Trans-Swiss Trail. We are walking to Neuchâtel via Engollon, Vilars and Valangin. 

The trails through the fields are long and flat but comfortable to walk. On the left is the Jura Range, which we would have liked to walk on, but there is still too much snow

Chézard-St-Martin on the left, and the wide open "Val-de-Ruz". a large farming region

I spotted some unusual "dots" in the middle of an empty field, turned out to be three deer! Very unusual that they would feel comfortable in the open like this

That's a very big tree, and I'm standing on the "Clean-out" of a local cow barn!

Up ahead is the village of Engollon. Unfortunately, photos don't reflect the lovely smell of the freshly-ploughed earth!

In Engollon we came across a "Vannière". I didn't know what this was, but it is a place where baskets are made.... by hand! They also sold hand-made flour of a large variety, but too heavy for us to take along. 

The "Temple St.Pierre d'Engollon" was first documented in 1228, but recent discoveries indicate older foundations. 

The painted murals are from the second half of the 14th Century, and are the only murals that date back to before the Reformation (early 16th Century)

On the floor of the church are gravestones: The person buried here died at the age of 23 on August 12th, 1699.... 

Moving along past the church to find a good place for our picnic lunch

This converted fountain was the best we could do for a good place to sit!

Our favourite picnic lunch in spring: Pasta salad with bear garlic!

In Fenin we passed a castle, privately-owned!

A detour to the church in Fenin, not as old as the one in Engollon (carved in stone above the door was the date 1736), but pretty nonetheless

Church in Fenin, at the very South of the Ruz Valley

The wall around the church grounds was built of old gravestones cemented together. Graves don't last forever here, so this seems a good use of the old stones. The only date of death we could read on one of them was 1893

Cool view from someone's backyard!

The forest trail leading down to the medieval town of Valangin

PART III: Discovering the medieval town of Valangin

Crossing the Seyon River into Valagin, with the Château to the South. 

The "Collégiale" is a Swiss Heritage Site of National Importance (as is the castle as well). The church was built as a Catholic church in 1505, but became Protestant during the Reformation in 1536

A date on the row of houses next to the church shows that these are at least as old as 1584!

Before heading to the castle, we needed to take a look into the church

What an interesting surprise that you enter "through" the fabulous pipe organ!

Some very important people are buried here, their tombstones along the walls... 

Heading into the main part of the old village through the village gate

Houses along the main road toward the castle gate

Heading toward the gate in the castle wall

The cobblestone road leading up to the Valangin Castle

A look over the medieval village of Valangin from the castle walls

Walking to the back of the castle to find the picnic tables I remember from the previous visit.

Time for a coffee break before we head on the final section of our hike through the "Gorges de Seyon" to Neuchâtel 

The back of the Valangin castle (South side) from the picnic area

Heading back toward the village as we walk around the other side of the castle

Taken from the Internet, an aerial view of the castle grounds

The back side of the row of houses which line the "main street"

Heading back toward the village gate and the Collegiate Church, to cross the river once again and head through the gorge

The 1505-built Collegiate Church as seen from the village gate

PART IV: Walking down the "Gorges du Seyon", Seyon being the river which flows from the Val-de-Ruz into Lake Neuchâtel 

On the other end of the gorge is a bus stop at Vauseyon, and according to this trail marker 50 minutes from here. The bus we had to catch was leaving there in an hour, so just enough time!

A lovely, comfortable, sun-dappled forest trail all the way through the gorge back into the city of Neuchâtel 

"Attention, dangerous crossing"... meant crossing the road...

We were pleasantly surprised that the trail followed some magnificent cliff formations

And here we are at the Neuchâtel end of the Gorges du Seyon, one last bit of serenity before entering the noise of construction near our bus stop.

Google Earth view of the hike we did across the farmland of Val-de-Ruz and back to the city of Neuchâtel (11.5 km, just over 3 hours)

Neuchâtel is in the very western part of Switzerland near the border of France, but we can reach the city itself in 2hrs 20mins by public transit.

AND HERE IS A SELF-TIMED PHOTO I TOOK WHEN I VISITED THE TOWN OF VALANGIN IN JULY 2014. More photos of the village when I was there in 2014 can be viewed at this LINK

Also, this is what the castle looks like from the bus stop, photo also take in 2014 (we didn't think to get this vantage point view on this 2022 hike)

Walk from the Napoleon Tower to Steckborn in Canton Thurgau

Saturday March 5, 2022 -- We are not so fond of winter (snow) hiking, so at this time of year we try to find some interesting trails in the "flatter" part of the country. One thing that is interesting are the many observation towers which we can ascend, and most of those are in lower-lying areas, free of snow. So we have made a list of towers we would like to visit.

One such tower we had heard about is called the Napoleon Tower (named in honour of Louis Napoleon who was a nephew of the better-known Napoleon Bonaparte and who apparently grew up nearby) near Konstanz, Germany. We planned a route to walk first to the tower (completed in 2017), and then past several small farming hamlets, through the forests and over the hill to one of the several pretty towns along the water where the Rhine River leaves Lake Constance. (Technically, the water first creates a small lake called Untersee, or Lower Lake, before narrowing at Eschenz and continuing westward as the Rhine River). The town we ended at is called Steckborn, one we had visited before when we had taken a boat ride on the Rhine.

Well, we were reminded that we should do much more research before starting on our hikes: It turned out that the tower is currently closed for restoration (cleaning) of the viewing platform! That was disappointing, but visibility wasn't great anyway, and you are supposed to get a fantastic view from the tower. So maybe we'll have to go another time.

Nevertheless, there were lots of other interesting things to see: The first flowers, lambs in the fields, tractors in full force, a sighting of the Dubai Expo 2020 plane, lots of beautiful half-timbered houses, and a 6-meter high styrofoam statue of the First Napoleon, simply standing under the overhang of someone's barn...  (Here is a link to an article about how the statue came to be brought here, in German only, but with a great photo of the owners... --> HERE)

Some of the lovely half-timbered houses which we saw on the way to the starting point of our hike (this is near Frauenfeld, in Canton Thurgau)

Starting on the short walk to the Napoleon tower, we encountered a bear.... (Urs = Bear)

Sure sign that Spring is on the way, even though it is still very cold!

This elegant tower was built in 2017, to replace the original one commissioned by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) in 1829, the first President of France and the last monarch to rule over France. Apparently he grew up in one of the villages along the lakeshore nearby. The tower is 40 meters high

Had we looked up information about the tower on the Internet before going there, we would have discovered that the tower is closed for repairs the whole month of March!

This "statue" of the better-known Napoleon Bonaparte I is apparently made of Styrofoam and is 10 meters tall! See the fellow next to him warming up the Sunday barbeque! He basically is as tall as the boots. 

Some of the animals we saw. The Red Kites are always prevalent when the farmers plough their fields!

This colourful airplane caught my eye as it flew far ovehead. Turns out it is one of several Emirates airplanes advertising the World Expo 2020 in Dubai (running from Oct.2021 to March 2022), the first World Expo ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region (more information at this LINK)

We like to support the private little farmer's shops where they offer homemade products like cheeses, sausages, flour, icecream, etc. This one offered frozen cuts of meat as well! (We bought sausages)

Another very nice half-timbered construction

We found a bench with a view, but the wind was so cold!

Looking over the roofs of Helsighausen toward the Napoleon Tower

Forest trails in the Spring can also be very nice

Newborn lambs are also a sign of coming Spring

As we descend over the ridge (called the "Seerücken"), the lake called Untersee (actually a wide channel of water exiting Lake Constance, before narrowing and becoming the Rhine River again) and the village of Steckborn come into view.

The town of Steckborn on the "widening" of the Rhine River, i.e. Lake Untersee. (Further West the waterway narrows and becomes the Rhine River again)

Here in Steckborn are lots of very nice half-timbered constructions

The town wall was built in the 14th Century, and first mentioned in documents from 1451. The town is very determined to maintain the old city wall. 

This beautiful old building is called Gasthaus Kehlkopf

Heading down toward the lake, this building is the old Rathaus (City Hall) built in 1498. It was beautifully restored in 1982

Here is where the Rhine boats dock at Steckborn!

"Schloss Steckborn" (Steckborn Castle) on the lakeshore in Steckborn, also called the Tower of Steckborn, was built in the early 14th Century. 

This hike we did was close to 14 kilometers. It was more of a long walk than a hike! The Untersee is a smaller lake created as the water flows out of Lake Constance on the East side. Shortly after Steckborn, the channel narrows and the water continues again as the Rhine River to the West. 

For the ride back we traveled along the Rhine via Schaffhausen. Here the train crosses from the south side of the river into the city on the North side. The prominent landmark of Schaffhausen is the Munot Castle

A ride along this stretch is always accompanied by a view of the beautiful Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. 

On this stretch and SOUTH of the Rhine Falls (which are in Switzerland), the train passes through two German cities. This is Lottstetten

At the very north of Switzerland, the borders between Germany and Switzerland are convoluted. Whereas Schaffhausen and the Rhine Falls are in Switzerland, there is a small part of Germany which is actually SOUTH of Switzerland

And here we are back in Switzerland crossing the Rhine River again near Eglisau

Here is a photo of me in Steckborn in May 2016 when we did a ride on the Rhine ship from Konstanz to Steckborn.