The road to and back from work takes me through mainly agricultural land. There are cornfields and sunroses, different kinds of grain and a lot of hay and silage.
All these crops are probably for animal consumption. There are lots of cows, horses and sheep in the area. But also some more exotic animals, like the two donkeys peacefully grazing right in the middle of one of the villages on the Swiss side of the border, or the herd of buffaloes that greets you a little further down the road, close to the airport
This is no French wine growing area, but on the Swiss side of the border there is wine everywhere. The Swiss wines have clearly developed over the last years, and the Swiss are rightly proud of them. But very few find their way outside Switzerland, and compared to wines from almost all other areas prices are high. Another common crop is apples. Large areas with covered, tightly cut apple trees planted in neat rows are a common sight.
And then? Well, there is the border of course, marked by signs on both sides with information about traffic, speed limitations, the compulsory vignette for Swiss motorways etc. There is a gate, but I have never seen it used. And the quality of the tarmac changes. But for us daily commuters the border is hardly noticed. We rather pay attention to speed limitations. In France you can drive 90 km/h on open roads, even if they are narrow and windling (which is the case here), in Switzerland it is 80. The small villages all have speed limitations of 30 or 40, and on the Swiss side there are cameras. It is a pleasant and peaceful road to either drive or cycle, cycling actually gives even more opportunities to go through the villages.
And once I’m at the EBU in Grand Saconnex, I can look back over the Jura mountains from my room.
O S M A F Frankenhaeuser 