A Lovely Swiss House for Us

I’ve been remiss in relating the details of our next year’s adventure that are coming together. But we have now officially signed a rental lease and sent it back to our Swiss landlord, and I can share the news and photo.

Zeus’ brother (we’ll call him Poseidon – ha!) did some house hunting for us, and after visiting a few duds found this lovely abode in the natal village. It’s about 5 minutes walk from Zeus and Poseidon’s parents’ home, 5 minutes from the village school, 10 minutes from the train station, and 5 minutes walk from the border with France.

More importantly, it is in our price range and it will fit all of us nicely with some room to tuck in some guests as well.  Even more wonderfully, it comes with a large garden and orchard and looks out on more countryside. We shall go have picnics in the orchard, and if we can’t afford any food, we shall live on apples and plums and raspberries. Here is a wintry view looking back through the raspberry canes to the shed and orchard. How the cockles of my heart were warmed when I heard about the raspberries!

We should probably give the house a name, but I’m not sure what yet. Or perhaps it already has one – Swiss people often give names to their houses names which makes me quite happy. This one is on a road called Les Pommerats – which translates roughly to Apple Alley. It is quite near to Chemin des Queue-du-Loup – Wolf’s Tail Road. Isn’t that delightful?

If you look at a map of Switzerland, (outlined in yellow)Boncourt is quite at the edge of it, in landscape that’s more rolling French countryside than alpine slope out of Heidi. And actually geographically, it is turned much more toward France, as there is a lower mountain range – the Jura - between it and the rest of Switzerland.

But if you look at a map of Western Europe, you will find that our village is almost smack dab in the middle. How the travel possibilities abound! Here it is: