From Murten to Payerne

Sometimes I do a walk, and then I don’t get to write about it for a while. This is one of those times. I actually did this walk on Saturday November 9th, but for various reasons, I am only getting to write about it now, almost two weeks later.
I was continuing my way south along the alternative Via Jacobi, the one that goes south from Basel, and links up with a branch of the “official” route in Payerne. This section was about going from Murten to Payerne. It was a dull morning as I left Murten, following the shores of the lake for a while. And by the way, there are two early morning swimmers in the photo here. I guess that everyone ahs their own way of enjoying the outdoors on a November morning.

After a while, the route turns inland, following the Swiss regional route 81. But just after passing the farms at Ober-Greng, my Via Jacobi leaves the waymarked route, and goes by means of small roads towards the village of Clavaleyres. Murten is in the canton of Fribourg, and as I passed the motorway, I saw a border marker to tell me I was entering a different canton. The border maker, a small limestone pillar, carries a faded date inscription of 1585. A nearby plaque explains that this is the oldest marker of the Bern-Fribourg border, and that it is in fact a point where three cantons come together: Bern, Fribourg and Vaud.

Clavaleyres is a curious entity, the village and its surroundings are actually an exclave of Bern canton, a small piece of Bern territory totally surrounded by its neighbours, Fribourg and Vaud. But in typical Swiss fashion, it is a peaceful place.

I left the village taking a track that took me through the fields, back onto the regional route 81, and on to Villarepos. There is not much in Villarepos, so I did not stop, but kept going. Then there was the smaller village of Donatyre. This village seemed somehow down at heel compared to many others I have passed through, and once again I kept going. And soon, coming over a small hill, I could see Avenches ahead of me.

Avenches must have been a significant town in Roman times, and many remains of its importance still remain. The first thing one sees on entering is the theatre. It is more extensive than my photo shows. A nearby plaque says that in Roman times, the theatre could hold up to 9,000 people. It was used for tragedy, comedy, dance, popular festivals and religious feasts.

I can only presume that many of those religious feasts were connected to the nearby temple, about 200 metres away. Today, the temple is a complete ruin, with only two pillars still standing as well as the original foundations. In the case of the temple, the nearby plaque says that it is not known what deities were worshipped there, but they must have been significant to the people for such a building.

In the centre of Avenches there is still the Roman amphitheatre. Apparently at one time it could hold up to 16,000 people, which shows that Avenches must have been an important centre of Roman rule. The accompanying plaque in that case says that it was the site of fights between gladiators and between gladiators and animals. It specifically mentions bears, which Charly was not pleased with, so we did not stay long. In any case, the town was installing a covered ice rink for the winter season, so the feeling of the original structure was lost.

Elsewhere in Avenches, there is a chateau which is integrated into the town’s fortifications. The main street is not exceptionally busy, and I soon came to the central square and the church.

Leaving Avenches, I went out over the rising ground along what is the highest part of this section. I went straight through the village of Domdidier, where this Via Jacobi leaves official waymarked routes and once again takes to small roads and lanes

That brought me to the village of Russy, and soon after leaving that village I was back onto a waymarked trail that went over the hill pf Petit Belmont. Descending again, I was back into fields again and soon reached the farming settlement at Tours. This is where my route coming south from Basel joins up with that branch of the official Via Jacobi, the Swiss national route number 4.

From Tours it was just a short walk to the town of Payerne, my destination for the day. Entering the town, there was an animal park with deer, which were just too cute not to photograph. And Payerne is the location of an old abbey and chateau, well worth a visit.

From the Abbey, it was just an even shorter walk to the train station and my journey home. And my step count for the day was 45,960.