The Swallow Line

Between heaven and earth...

Claimed to be one of the most beautiful railway journeys in France, the Ligne des Hirondelles crosses the Jura, in a trip lasting 2½ hours, travelling over 120 km between plain and mountain, through the forest of Chaux, the vineyards of Arbois, the vast Grandvaux plateaus, and the Valley of la Bienne.

It boasts a number of very impressive engineering structures. The 123 kilometre line, linking and Saint-Claude, goes through 36 tunnels and crosses 18 viaducts. It climbs from 200 metres of altitude (at Dole station) to 948 metres (at its highest point, the Col de la Savine) before descending again to 440 metres of altitude at Saint-Claude. The trip from Morez to Saint-Claude alone goes through 18 tunnels, totalling 470 metres, with 10 bridges and viaducts. The leg from Morbier to Morez epitomises the Swallows Line. Dole

 
The Swallow line, a panoramic view of the Jura!

Between Dole, Pasteur's birth town, and Saint-Claude, the pipe and diamond capital, travellers can discover a whole heritage. In the vicinity of Dole they enter the forest of Chaux, France's second largest deciduous forest.

At Arc-et-Senans, the Large Royal Salt Pits welcome those who dream of the ideal city. This salt mine, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1982, is a historical monument of the first order of importance. The brainchild of the architect Claude Nicolas Ledoux, it was built between 1775 and 1779. The Royal Salt Pits used the wood from the forest of Chaux to evaporate the brine.

A few kilometres from Arc-et-Senans, the Swallows Line then passes the legendary ruins of Alesia. This was possibly the site of the last decisive battle of the Gallic War in 52 BC between Julius Caesar and the Gaulish coalition led by Vercingetorix. It was the archaeologist Andre Berthier who, using a precise interpretation of Caesar's text, triggered a controversy by suggesting the presence of these ruins on the site of Chaux-des-Crotenay, in the foothills of the Jura mountains.