Exploring the Jura mountains with our camper van in France and Switzerland

[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Bonjour everyone. How are you all doing? I wanted to let you know that Olaf and I are so enjoying taking more breaks and slowing down the building works. We packed our van again and drove 2 hours east to the Swiss border to a region of France called Franch Conte which is known for a couple of very well-known teases. Conte which is one of my favorite mond I think that is actually forbidden in the US. I want to show this region to you because I absolutely loved it. We're also taking a tiny trip to Switzerland in this video and I would just like you to be able to be part of this really relaxing trip that we took. These beauties are Melar cows and this region Lumifur. So the Jura Mountains are all about cheese making and the Conte cheese is the number one that's made in this region. There are 2,700 farms, 160 fuier, that is where the cheese is made, and I'll take you to one of those later in this video. and 16 ripening sellers. All together with the help of the beautiful cows making for an annual production of about 55,000 tons of conte cheese. The process of making conte cheese is really very much a local and community thing. A friier is called this way because it is said that the cheese is the fri, so the fruit of the hard labor of everyone involved. The cows who provide the milk for the cheese. The farmer who's taking care of the cows. Then the cheese maker who's going to come pick up the milk. And one of the rules for a conte in this region is that all the milk needs to come from farms within a parameter of 25 km from the fitier. The cheese maker then makes his cheese which is then going to be ripened in specific sellers where the cheese ripener will monitor the ripeness of the cheese. And all of these together make for a wonderful delicious Conte cheese. While editing this video, I found a map online which is called the Conte Road that you can download for free and I'll put a link in the description and it takes you past all the villages, all the fuier, all the ripening sellers and all the farmers that you can visit to learn more about this cheese. And in my next book that I'm currently working on, I'll be sharing a couple of recipes where I use Conte cheese. So, it was so nice to be in this area and visiting the Conte Paradise. So, as I said, we came with our van and we actually found this wonderful place to spend the night. It was on the parking lot of a restaurant. So, in this area, you have a lot of chalet. They feel like a refuge in the mountains where you can have lunch or dinner. And the owner was so nice and allowed us to spend the night on his property. And we agreed that we would come the next day for lunch. [Music] Okay. Yeah. In the morning when we woke up, we opened the van door and were welcomed by this beautiful dog. turned out to be the owner's dog. And then we heard the farmer come with his quad again to pick up the cows that were in the field right next to the chalet where we slept. >> This sound of a farmer calling his cows is such a familiar sound to me. We in our area have lots of cows as well. And of course the farmer comes to check on them or comes to feed them. And I have noticed that each farmer has their unique way of calling their cows. So sometimes it's French, sometimes it's a mix of French and some madeup gibberish. But what is really striking to me is the love for the animal that speaks from how they call their animals. One farmer in our village always calls them ille which means hey beauties. And somehow that warms my heart. I mean, if you're a vegan or vegetarian, you might find this horrible to look at. I have learned to see how much the farmers actually love their animals, which feels pretty contradictory, but from what I've been able to seen with my own eyes where I live or here is that they truly do. We decided to take a hike before lunch because this area is just beautiful woodland and the dog decided to come with us. So, I called the owner and said, "If you're looking for your dog, he came with us." And he said, "Oh, that's good because then when you get lost, the dog can show you home." I was like, "Sure." Uh, we usually don't get lost, but yeah, sure. But then we did end up not really getting lost, but a lot of the trails were not trails. So they started as a trail and then at some point just turned into the bushes and the jungle. Felt like we were in a jungle. So actually the dog helped us out a couple of times. I don't think we've ever done this long over a hike that was only supposed to be 2 hours or so. So, we were happy to see the chalet at the end of our hike so we could enjoy a welldeserved, heartwarming lunch. Are you okay? I took out here in here. This filter. Oh, bravo. Mercy, mercy. [Music] Oh, good morning. [Music] for my new book. I have also met a truffle hunter and he sells truffles and all kinds of mushrooms. And he said, "If you're going to Jira, you have to order lauti," which is what I did. And oh boy, I did not regret it. It is muri mushrooms cooked in a very creamy sauce with the local wine dura which is a specific wine that is only made here. Highly highly recommend. >> We ordered a cafe gman for dessert which is coffee with a selection of different desserts. We only ordered it for one person and it was huge and so delicious. You just have to love French cuisine. [Music] We were very close to the Swiss border, so we decided to spend our next night in Switzerland. land. Now, in Switzerland, you really aren't allowed to sleep in your car. And I was happy to find this place where we were allowed to park on the parking lot of a restaurant and spend the night there. And it was on top of what is called Leadon Deion, which is a mountain, and it's overlooking the lake close to the French border on one side and the lake of Geneva, the Alps, and the Mont Blon on the other side. And we were here on a very clear day and we had the most amazing view of the Alps. It's a couple. The next morning, it was time to go back home. So, we crossed the border again with France. And on our way home, stopped at a beautiful viewpoint overlooking four lakes that used to be glaciers. These four lakes were formed during the last ice age. And talking about ages and history, did you know that the Jurassic period was actually named after this area, the Jura Mountains, because this is where the limestone strata from this period were first discovered by a German geologist. And that is why we now all refer to this era as the Jurassic period. And when I say Jurassic, you say park. So yes, there are actually many dinosaur footprints that you can find here in various places. Now, of course, we cannot leave this region without getting our proper stock of Conte cheese. So, we are now heading to a friier. [Applause] On the day and time that we were there, they weren't actually making the cheese. So, we didn't get to see that. We did get to try and taste the different contes following the different aging. So typically a conte cheese will have aged anywhere between four months to 24 but sometimes even up to 36 or 38 months. I believe it's pretty rare for people to really eat these very old contes. Typically you'll find them being sold aged 6 months to 12 months to maximum 24 months. And there is no way of saying which one is best. It is really whatever you like. I have a feeling the French like the younger conte. We as Dutch people kind of liked the very aged ones. A conte will always have a light nutty flavor. I really like it. It's soft. It is not a smelly stinky cheese. It is very delicate and very rich. A younger Conte will have a more creamy texture. And as it ages, of course, it becomes a little drier and the flavors really deepen. A younger conte will be perfect for cooking. It's creamy and the flavor is very delicate. And an older conte I really enjoy during ao. It doesn't need anything. It is just perfect like that. We were so happy to go home with our little stack of conte. And we also picked up a couple of things to have lunch on our way back home. No I make a bed in it. See, Oh, is that [Music] [Music] Thank you so much for coming to Jura with me. I hope you enjoyed this video and I will see you next week with a new one. [Music]