Date and Time of Visit: September 17, 2017, approximately 10:00 a.m.
This is the most beautiful village in Switzerland, and the most northern village in the French-speaking world. Lake Neuchâtel itself, where most of the beautiful villages are concentrated, is quite close to France, but this is really just over the mountains. Actually, I was in Mulhouse, France the day before I came here. By the way, we passed through the Swiss border on the open road. It took about 15 minutes to get through. Of course, I had no trouble.
The distance between the two countries is very short and the culture seems to be the same, but the road signs, gas stations, etc. change, so you can feel the atmosphere is different from France.
The visit first thing in the morning on this day, the arrival time is past 9 o’clock, or about before 10 o’clock? But a group of tourists from somewhere had come in a sightseeing bus, and there were quite a few tourists. Even though the place is quite remote! The locals (where is that? France? Switzerland?) Is it a famous village?
The atmosphere of the village was very different from the beautiful German-speaking villages I’ve seen so far, or the so-called French-speaking villages in Valais, which were located at the foot of the Alps, and had a soft, French atmosphere. On the other hand, there are many beautiful villages in the Franche-Comté region of France, which is located just northwest of here, but they also have a different atmosphere. I thought it didn’t have a stone structure feeling.
We found a parking space for about a dozen cars at the entrance of the village, La Port Saint-Pierre. If you are driving, you will come from this side, so it will be easy to find a parking lot.
The name of the village comes from St. Ursanne, an Irish nun. Although it is a small village, it has a splendid church. It was very big considering the scale of the village. But unfortunately we couldn’t go inside because it was under restoration. The history of the village seems to start from about 15th century.
In addition to the Saint-Pierre gate mentioned above, there are two other entrances to the village, making a total of three gates that characterize the village. The village is situated along a small stream and the second gate is the one you pass through when you enter the village from the other side of the river over the bridge. I didn’t notice it when I visited.
It is a quiet place surrounded by mountains in a really remote area. There are some accommodation facilities in the village, so if you want to spend a relaxing time in a quiet place, it is very worth staying in this village.
Of course, it can only be reached by car, but it is a relatively easy village to get to as there are major highways surprisingly close by.
