Porrentruy, St Ursanne, and Delémont Redux (10/24/1982)

Sunday, October 24, 1982

Marsha and I went to the bus stop at 8:45, but discovered the bus had a different schedule on Sunday. So we walked down to Juravorstadt to catch the #1 trolleybus. Saw Frau J with Philippe at the train station.

Train day pass

We took the 9:27 train to Delémont, arriving at 9:55 and changing to the 10:01 train to Porrentruy. Arrived in Porrentruy at 10:30. The town is the focal point of the Ajoie region and does seem to lie in the center of a flat area in the Jura mountains. We walked into the old town, finding the Hôtel de Ville/city hall on Grand Rue, with a fairly modern statue of a boar. We turned to walk past the Hôtel-Dieu/old hospital with its wrought-iron gates and past the Fontaine de la Samaritaine/Samaritan’s Fountain (1564). We walked to the top of Grand Rue to a neat Restaurant du Mouton, and turned right one block. Walked down a street with wrought-iron balconies and ended up in the square with the Fontaine Suisse/Swiss Fountain (1518), with a standard bearer and a boar, Significance of the boar? It is also on the coat of arms. Followed the continuation of Grand Rue, Rue Pierre-Pequignat, and crossed the Le Creugenat “river” to the section of the old town below the huge castle that belonged to the Prince-Bishops of Basle. We walked to the Porte de France/Gate of France (1563) and through it to see the round Tour/Tower Réfous (1271) with the Jura coat-of-arms, the oldest part of the castle complex. We slowly returned to the train station, catching the 11:19 train towards Biel, getting off 10 minutes later in St Ursanne. As we headed into town in the rain, you could look around at the hills with its autumn colors of (pine) green, red, yellow, and rust. Must be a pretty panorama in the sunlight! Behind us was the railroad viaduct and below the Doubs River with the weir running more along the length rather than width for producing more electricity. The town was built around a monastery which replaced the hermitage of St Ursicinus, an Irish monk and follower of St Columban. We passed some “typical” Swiss houses before entering St Ursanne through a gate with gun portals and a tiny painting of a bear holding a crozier/bishop’s staff! Inside the gate is a medieval town of cobblestoned streets, shuttered houses with very small doors, some wrought-iron signs, and stone fountains.

View North on La Ruelle

Rue du 23. Juin towards St Peter's Gate

We wandered around on nearly every street and out the other end through a gate to cross the Doubs. In the middle of the bridge is a statue of St John Nepomuk/Nepomucene, a protector from floods. At the other end of the bridge is a stone cross. The bridge is only one lane and regulated by a traffic light. We looked back at the town’s overhanging wood balconies and onto the town rooftops, up into the autumn foliage covered hills, and tried to determine if the uneven rock above was a natural cliff or the castle ruins alluded to in the guidebook! We returned into the town and walked around the seemingly giant and out of place collegiate church with its Romanesque façade and undecorated single arch doorway. There were no statues to be seen, only a sign saying the church was closed for restoration. We went in a side door and peeked through a glazed window into the chapel of St Anne (the fourth chapel dedicated to St. Anne was built in 1490) which seemed as decorated as any whole church. A Mass was in progress so we were unable to see the church itself, or the crypt, cloister and sarcophagi museum. We left town and slowly hiked up to the train station.

Viaduc de Saint-Ursanne/St Ursanne Viaduct (1929)

St Ursanne and autumn colors

Rock garden at St Ursanne station

Some fellow asked Marsha for directions in French, but he really didn’t look like he needed directions! We had an egg salad sandwich before catching the 12:32 train to Delémont, arriving at 12:50. Delémont is the capital of the Jura canton, but it wasn’t very busy today. We headed uphill into the old town, passing the town hall with its outdoor staircase and Baroque doorway. We walked down Rue de 23. Juin, which has the fountain (Fontaine de la Vierge/Virgin of 1576) in front of the Hôtel de Ville/town hall and two painted fountains along the street (Fontaine du Sauvage/Savage of 1576 and Fontaine de St-Maurice of 1577). All these towns seem to have a Rue 23. Juin, since it was on June 23, 1974 when the Jura became the newest canton in Switzerland, getting its independence from Bern!

We turned off to see the Eglise St Marcel/Church of St Marcel (1762-1773), and to get a view from its terrace of the cloud-covered hills beyond the town. Next door was the plain Château de Delémont/castle of the prince-bishops of Basle, with a fountain out front. We went to the Porte/Gate de Porrentruy (rebuilt 1756) with its painted shutters and saw the “junkyard” which is outside the Musée Jurassien d'Art et d'Histoire/Jura Museum of Art and History. Back in the old town we followed Rue de l’Hôpital which has more characteristic medieval buildings. Passed a non-statue fountain (Fontaine de la Boule/Ball of 1592) and came to the Fontaine du Lion (1590) near the Porte au Loup/Wolf’s Gate (rebuilt 1775).

Back at the train station, we caught the 13:56 train to Biel, arriving at about 14:30. We walked down Bahnhofstrasse/Train Station Street, then left up Karl Neuhaus Strasse that ended at Neuengasse, which we took to Zentralstrasse, then to Mühlebrücke where we stopped at a corner restaurant to have hot chocolate for me and coffee for Marsha. We went to Museum Schwab (collection of Friedrich Schwab with archeological artifacts and art, historical objects and scientific specimens), then the Swan Colony, before returning to Mühlebrücke to catch a bus for home, by 16:00.

Tuesday, October 26, 1982

About 20:00, Marsha came by to ask if I wanted to go for a walk. It was a clear, crisp autumn night, although somewhat cool. Moisture in the air prismed the street lights and the half moon. The stars were out and it was just dry enough to scuff in the fallen leaves. Marsha wanted to go to l’Odeon, so we headed to Mühlebrücke, where we ran into Pierre. Marsha asked him to join us. It wasn’t as busy at l’Odeon as on Friday night. We had Café HAG and Pierre had a caffe latte. We were home by 21:30.