Cow bells and cockadoodledoos!

It seems that I left you in Pont de Roide. How remiss of me. Since then there's been a fair bit of hillage followed by a bicycle track to die for.
You may have heard of Le Doubs. I'm not sure I had but as I stumbled uphill wondering why, I couldn't have hoped for a better result. There's a gorge through which this river runs and although you have to climb out of it, falling into it is exhilarating. Maybe there's a video, maybe not. I don't know.
I also don't know if gorge is where the word gorgeous comes from but if it is, it's extremely apt. Le Doubs is where you cross the border into Switzerland, for better or worse, and instantly you can feel your wallet getting lighter. Honestly, I don't know how they get away with it.
Earlier on in the blog, the question 'Switzerland, what's the point?' was posed and I shall attempt to answer it here. I shall award up to +5 points for the good bits and -5 for the bad.
a) Bicycle paths +5 : the one that follows the Rhone through it's flood plain is truly memorable (and I had the wind behind me) plus it's made of the tarmac that Harrods would stock (with thanks to the authors of Yes Minister).
b) Cow bells and cockadoodle doos +4 : I imagine it's quite difficult to find your herd of cattle in the morning and the melodic peel of the cow bell helps you track them down. Plus it's quite nice to hear it and occasionally brings to mind church bells. The Cockadoodledoos help you wake up to find your cattle.
c) Hotel window views +3 : Snow capped mountains.
d) Chocolate box villages +2 : Those little villages you see portrayed on chocolate boxes and sometimes in jigsaws. They really do exist and are surprisingly restorative when cycling through them.
e) Thw Swiss people +1 : Impressive linguistic skills.
f) The 1/2 franc coin -1 : Too small, you think it's tuppence when its practically 50p.
g) Swiss banks - 2 : Surprisingly difficult to find.
h) Cow bells and cockledoodledoos -3 : The bells are huge. They make you think of those ladies with the long necks. I'd like to know what the RSPCA have to say about it. As for the cocks, it's already 3pm for Heaven's sake.
i) Bicycle paths - 4 : The sadist who designed the signs needs dropping from the nearest mountain top. I expect that they're they're OK if you know where you're going but then you don't need the signs. But frankly, a sign pointing in a direction that says 72 means what exactly? Reminds one of those ridiculous signs on London's cycle superhighways which give you distances using the 24 hour clock. Thanks very much.
j) La Chaux de Fonds -5 : This is the first Swiss town that you come across when entering the way I did. You're expecting Julie Andrews to jump out from behind a tree and launch into song. Instead, you're presented with a seemingly prefabricated mess masquerading as a town. There's a reason you've never heard of it. Do not stop. Completely pointless.

So there we are then, Switzerland - Nul points. It seems that the jury is still out.