Switzerland Guide
The Arc Jurassien
Neuchâtel
Beam yourself down into Neuchâtel, and you might think you've landed in France. The Neuchâtelois people are the most French-oriented in Switzerland. The town's air of dignity and easy grace is fuelled by a profusion of French-influenced architecture and the modern and disarmingly Gallic street life of pavement cafés and studenty night bars, upscale street markets and hip designer boutiques, has the slightly unreal flavour of a town actively seeking influences from beyond its own borders – a rare thing indeed in Switzerland. The town's main attractions are its café-lounging atmosphere and its location, with boats weaving across the lake and the first ridges of the Jura range standing poised over the town.
The Neuchâtelois, for whom the issue of joining the EU is a matter of the plainest common sense, are perhaps the epitome of the Swiss mystery; they are about as far removed in attitude, values, style and language from the people of Luzern – with whom their future is inextricably linked – to the east, as they are closely related to the people of Dijon – the supposed foreigners – to the west. You get the feeling while in Neuchâtel that the locals have thrown up their hands in disbelief at such injustice, and, ensconced between their broad lake and the mountain border, have sought solace in a life of fine wines, rich foods and French TV while waiting for their compatriots to see sense.
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