Blois-sur-Seille, the valley of the wolves

First of all, the village of Blois-sur-Seille lies at the confluence of the two Revermont "reculées". In other words, on the other side of the Jura Mountains. It's embedded in the reculées, and the Seille flows at the foot of its cliffs. Its inhabitants are known as Blésiens and Blésiennes.

Villa Blez integra:

To begin with, Blois-sur-Seille first appears in the records of the abbey of Château-Chalon, in the 5th century. It is mentioned as Villa Blez integra. Intrinsically, the Celtic word "Blez" means "wolf". So Blois-sur-Seille was the valley of the wolves. In fact, a field on the plateau in the hamlet of Chaumois Boivin is called "la Louvrasse".

A battered village :

Over the centuries, the Jura village has often suffered.

In the 9th century, it was burnt down by Norman invasions, particularly by the Vikings. As a result, the inhabitants were forced to move to the "Châtelet" plateau. Three centuries later, in the 12th century, the village came under the control of Frederick Barbarossa and his wife, Countess Beatrice of Burgundy, after a long period of dependence on the abbey of Château-Chalon.

Louis XIII's troops besieged Blois-sur-Seille during the Ten Years' War, so much so that the Blésiens fled and the village was deserted during the war.

However, from the second half of the 17th century onwards, new inhabitants came to populate the Jura village and rebuild what had been destroyed.

During the French Revolution, the goods and wealth from the dissolution of the Château-Chalon abbey were redistributed to the citizens of Blésiens. Subsequently, they erected their town hall-school and placed the emblematic statue of Joan of Arc on the fountain in the central square in 1895.

An agricultural economy :

Blois-sur-Seille benefited from a wealth of natural resources thanks to its location in the Revermont region. Originally, Blois-sur-Seille's local economy was based on farming.

• On the one hand, on the cultivation of vines until the 1980s.
• And, on the other hand, the cultivation of cereals. In fact, the harvest and stubble were stored on the plateau where the "barns" were located. That's why the two hamlets were named Chaumois-Martin and Chaumois-Boivin.
• At the bottom of the valley, water power was harnessed from the Seille river to run a flour mill, forge, lathe, etc.
• The dairy produced Comté cheese until 1982. It was supplied with milk from neighboring farms, thanks to the ingenious milk cableway system.
• A shoeing workshop in the center of the village also equipped horses and oxen for farm work.

What to do in Blois-sur-Seille

In Blois-sur-Seille, you won't want to miss the impressive reculées. These vertiginous cirques of cliffs were formed over time by erosion. And it's in the heart of these enclosed valleys that the village of Blois-sur-Seille has taken root.

Stroll through the village to admire its vernacular heritage (bridges, farms, shepherds' huts, mission crosses, oratories, fountains, etc.) and enjoy the Olympian calm.

Stop off at Saint-Gilles church.

Last but not least, don't forget the village's central square, with its fountain featuring the statue of Joan of Arc, its shoeing machine and its emblematic milk cableway. This unique installation enabled farmers to move milk balls up and down the cliff by means of cables, thanks to the simple phenomenon of gravity, between the two wooden huts at either end of the cliff. This meant they didn't have to make laborious journeys all year round, whatever the season.

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