Standing in the village square at Charézier, looking at its functional little church, you might be forgiven for thinking that there are no church buildings of any significance in this parish. However, you would be wrong; there are two, and the chapel of the Holy Redeemer and Our Lady of Mercy in the hamlet of Lieffenan, a mile or so from Charezier village, is one of them.

I freewheeled down into the valley of the Ain, Mount Saint-Sorlin towering above me. Lieffenan is a small collection of farm cottages facing across to Blye on the opposite bank. Hidden from view, but signposted from the narrow lane, is the hydro-electric dam I had been dismayed by the previous year; I had thought it was a bridge, but ended up having to make a 20 km detour because it wasn't.

A yellow postvan overtook me, bibbing its horn merrily. It was the postgirl I had asked for directions an hour or so before at Vertamboz. French students staff the postal service in Summer, but only the prettiest ones get to work in the Jura.

She pulled into the farmyard across the village street, and opposite was the smallest church I had ever seen. It measures just 400cm wide by just 250cm deep. There was a tiny window in the eastern wall, and above the main door two corbels that suggested there might have been a porch once. Beneath them, the date said 1572.

Flowerbeds flanked the steps, and an old dog wandered out of a nearby yard to watch as I opened the door. Inside, there was no space for pews or even a proper altar; instead, a narrow bench sat before a little shelf jutting out of the east wall.

Briefly, I stepped out of the 35 degree heat of a Jura summer into the cool stillness of the eternal moment.

Saint-Saveur et Notre-Dame-de-Pitié, Lieffenans, is easily found on the main street of this tiny hamlet. Follow the signs to Lieffenan from either Charcier or Charézier, both on the main D27 road between Doucier and Clairvaux.