Walking a stretch of the centuries-old Via Francigena -Part 2: Cascade du Dard
From Romainmôtier, an old town built around an abbey church, to La Sarraz, at the other end of a pristine water-soaked forest. A story in three parts: here the walk through the forest all along the Nozon river, past a wonderful waterfall.
The Via Francigena is an ancient Christian pilgrimage route that connects Canterbury, England, to Rome and the Apulia, both in Italy. The route crosses both France and Switzerland. To know more about the route itself, check the first part of this story.
Part 2: hiking along the Nozon river up to the cascade du Dard
Continuing our departure from Romainmôtier, the rural town built centuries ago around an abbey, we immediately follow a small stream of water within minutes merges with other streams becoming a small but respectable river, that I’ve seen quite violent in rainy times. But today the Nozon (that’s the river’s name) is calm, so we can quietly walk all along its shore, visit its waterfall, and hike through its forest.
So, leaving the abbey behind:
We begin our walk towards the next town, Croy, where we actually arrived in the first place, as the train station is there. But this time we don’t really get into Croy; rather, we head south following the river. Here, the river is contained by a rock wall on its left margin and just our hiking trail on the right. I find this pretty amazing:
Right after that last shot, the trail makes a long turn and appears right in front of this small waterfall:
Which we can more clearly appreciate as we walk down to its base:
Detail of the water drop:
The soil is a sponge here, slowly releasing the water that infiltrates above:
As we walk away following the river downstream, the waterfall looks smaller and smaller until it disappears behind the exuberant vegetation after a sudden turn:
If you like stories with a lot of water, check these two:
I am a nature, science, technology, programming, and DIY enthusiast. Biotechnologist and chemist, in the wet lab and in computers. I write about everything that lies within my broad sphere of interests. Check out my lists for more stories. Become a Medium member to access all stories by me and other writers, and subscribe to get my new stories by email (original affiliate links of the platform).
