Day 29 ....... Seurre to Besançon......105 km ......(total 2,429 km)
The wide open agricultural fields of yesterday and very early stages of this mornings ride gave way pretty quickly to quiet roads that ran through the numerous forests in this part of the world . That was a good thing becaus where there are tees there is normally protection from the wind. That part hadn’t changed from yesterday’s ride and it was a still predominantly a headwind.
Before I go further , let me first touch on last nights accommodation at Chateau Seurre . Quite exceptional in every sense . A family house that runs as a sort of Bed n Breakfast . The bedroom I had was enormous by anyone’s standard and parked in one corner was a retro model pinball machine. Yup you read right. Here’s the evidence.....
It seems that the owner, William, who was the consummate host, has a thing about gaming machines from yesteryear and most bedrooms come equipped with one . I am only disappointed I didn’t get the room with the Space Invaders game in it . Breakfast was one for champions and I couldn’t recommend the place highly enough if you’re in this part of the world .
Chateau Seurre. Not every day you see an air hockey game in the family kitchen.
My route took me through various woods and then down onto the Le Doubs River (a tributary of the Saône) at Choisey . It was to be my companion for the next 72 km as I made my way along it’s banks on the Velo 6 Way To Besançon.
Shortly after joining the river I came across the smal riverside town of Dole. Famous for being the home of Louis Pasteur (chemist) and the Collegiale Notre Dame.
Visible from many km’s away it’s a pretty impressive religious building on the outside and equally so inside . Given there was a car park across the river from it that could host over 200 cars and there were 2 large touring buses from the UK parked up its clearly a church on many itineraries.
Dole and it’s river locks were both very attractive and the tree lined riverside pathway at this juncture was breathtaking in its natural beauty.
Le Doubs River at Dole
Meet Joachim. He hails from Hamburg and is riding solo from home to the southern border of Portugal with Spain. He will meet his wife there for holidays . She is the smart one. She’s flying . On the road already for a week he has given himself another 3 weeks to get down there.
Shortly thereafter I met the bubbly Sabrina and her partner Rocco. They’re from Basel and have decided to ride westward for 5 days. When I asked Sabrina what their destination was she simply replied “ we don’t have one , we ride for 5 days and then at the end , wherever we are we catch the train back to Basel”. That’s the beauty of cycling and living in Europe. Goes without saying that given they’re from Basel they probably speak about 5 languages too.
“Where do you live?”
“In Our 1”
First distance sign I have seen denoting you have precisely 0 km to go to get there .
Follow Le Doubs River upstream far enough and you’ll come to Besançon. It’s impressive citadel has been UNESCO Heritage Listed since 2007. It has a population of approximately 300,000 and since 1423 has been home to the University of Franche-Comté. It’s city records go back to ....... wait for it .. ...56 BC. Today the city is famous for its microtechnology and watch industry’s. It’s most famous child is Victor Hugo.
