About Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (population 1.12 million), meaning literally 'free country', contains the departments of Doubs (25), Jura (39), Haute-Saône (70) and the Territoire-de-Belfort (90). It's a little-known region in eastern France bordering Switzerland, with which it shares much of its architecture, cuisine and culture. It's known for cheeses such as Comté and Morbier, Jura wines, and Morteau and Montbéliard sausages. FrancheComté is acclaimed for its beautiful, unspoiled scenery (more Swiss in appearance than French) and recalls a fairy-tale land where time has almost stood still. It's reputed to be the greenest region in France.
Sandwiched between the Vosges range to the north and the Jura mountains to the south, Franche-Comté boasts a landscape of rolling cultivated fields, dense pine forests and rampart-like mountains. Although not as majestic as the Alps, the Jura mountains are more accessible and are a Mecca for nature lovers and winter sports fans. The Doubs and Loue valleys (noted for their timbered houses perched on stilts in the river) and the high valley of Ain are popular areas. The region's main towns include Belfort and Besançon (25), the regional capital on the river Doubs.
Franche-Comté is largely ignored by foreign tourists and homebuyers, although it has many attractions. Property prices are higher than the French average, although bargains can be found, particularly if you're seeking a winter holiday home. Besançon is served by the A36 motorway and has good connections with the centre and south of France, Germany and Switzerland via TGV.
©Text by David Hampshire, from Survival Books' Buying a Home in France