La Dôle mountain

The Italian campaign of 1796-1797 showed Napoleon Bonaparte that there was a great need for very quick French communication between Paris and the Simplon Pass via Geneva. Negotiations with Switzerland resulted in the mapping of a route on French territory. When the Empire fell in 1815, France’s borders were returned to those existing prior to 1790. However, both countries claimed to own the Dappes valley. In 1862, the dispute was resolved by the Treaty of Dappes. France was given the land on which the route de la Faucille had been mapped (now the N5) and in return, Switzerland was awarded the rest of the valley, as well as part of the Noirmont slope on the French side. Thus, some of the La Cure homes which had always been French became Swiss. Some are still split in two by the border, with one foot in France and the other in Switzerland.

On the Swiss side, the summit of the Dôle offers dizzying views over Lake Leman, Geneva, and in the distance, the Alps and the iconic Mont Blanc. From France, it provides a panorama of the village of Les Rousses, the valley of the Valserine and the Jura mountains. For the last few years, a viewing table has helped visitors to locate each summit of the alpine arc, from the Jungfrau to the Vanoise.

The red crossbill is a colourful species that lives mainly in small groups. This bird, which is nomadic to coniferous forests, settles in areas where spruces produce well, as its main source of food comes from the spruce seeds found in the centre of cones or pine-nuts. To get to these seeds, this bird hangs upside down from the cone, inserts its beak under the cone’s leaves and opens its mandibles to separate them, retrieving the seeds with its tongue. The bird starts at the bottom of the cone and works its way upwards in a spiral fashion. 

The Chamois is able to quench its thirst by drawing water from the plants that it eats. But to absorb a sufficient amount of water, imagine just how many plants it must ingest! The Chamois’ diet is comprised of over 70 species of plants. In winter, when vegetation is sparse, it licks the snow for additional hydration.