I think I may be a bit out with my dates, but never mind, the actual happenings are for real!
Our hotel in Baume-les-Dames is old, dating from the 16th century, and somewhat shabby, but is clean and comfortable. We have a ground-floor room which is great, because there is no lift, and the only way up is a very ancient ‘spiral’ (really helical) staircase. There is no off-street parking, so we brought everything in to the room, remembering our experience in Marseille on a previous trip.
We decided that since our tram and train travel in Freiburg had been such a success, we would take the train to Besançon rather than drive. Being Sunday, the station was unmanned, and we bought our tickets from a multi-choice machine. But apparently we must have made the wrong choice, because the ticket inspector on the train pointed out, very nicely, that we were ineligible for the very cheap tickets we had bought. I wondered what would have happened had we been in Germany and the inspector of tickets had been a relative of the museum lady! But the train ride was very pleasant, fast and smooth, alongside the Doubs river for most of the way, through a stunning valley with limestone cliffs on either side. Besançon station is quite high up at one end of the town, and the ‘old town’, with its (dare I say!) Vauban Citadel, is very high at the other end.. But we walked along slowly, taking our time and having a good look round until we got to our destination. During this walk, it was lovely to receive a phone call from Helen, wishing me a Happy Father’s Day. For the most part, the town was like a ghost town. Being Sunday, nothing was open apart from the very odd café, one of which we used to fortify ourselves ready for the assault on the Citadel; and a rather interesting Museum of Time—both of clocks, and of passing time, including some good history of Besançon . The walk up was steeper than we had expected, and on the way we pqssed the birthplace of Victor Hugo.
With Ann’s bodgy knees we knew it would be a long slow process coming down. The view from the top across the roof-tops of the old town was stunning, and one could imagine the troops in the fortified Citadel looking down in the mid-1760s defending the town against the potential invaders. The Citadel is typical Vauban—solid, vast, and business-like. Nothing pretty about it at all!. But unlike the other fortifications we have seen, the local authorities are using parts of this one as a museum, a zoo, and an aquarium! It is probably not a bad thing to use these spaces in this way, as it does bring in more fee-paying customers to help with the enormous up-keep of the Citadel.
In order to catch the train back to Baume-les-Dames, it was necessary to retrace our footsteps down from the hill, which as we knew, was slower than going up! But we had time for a drink at one of the odd cafes, and made the train with about a minute to spare.
All in all, a very good day.
Monday, our second full day at Baume-les-Dames, and we opted for a day in the country, being a welcome change from the past few days of cities. We headed across the Doubs, and took a turning to the left, along the river Cousincon valley, toward the source of the river at Cusance. We were sceptical about finding the actual source of such a fast-flowing and large river, even when we got to a car-park indicating we were there. But, the river did not just seep from the limestone cliffs, it gushed out, on both sides of the road. One branch was signposted Source Vert, the other, Source Bleu.
One can only imagine what the subterranean river system and caverns must be like in these hills, to squirt out such volumes of water. A bit later we came across another out-pouring, and it was possible to venture a couple of meters into the cliff face, but I was not game to go any further! We drove up and down some pretty hairy steep roads, through stunning limestone chasms, and through very picturesque, wider green valleys with pretty brown patched cows, complete with cowbells around their necks.
At one point, we were only about 25k from Switzerland. What we did not realise was that most shops are closed on Mondays, and we were lucky to find a baguette for our picnic lunch, and totally unlucky in our search for a cup of tea. We also found that the chateau that we were heading for, marked on the map as being open to the public, did not open on Mondays! But we enjoyed the view from the top of the hill on which it was perched. We then meandered on to the ancient town of Ornans, where the artist Gustave Corbet was born, and where there is a fabulous art gallery containing an impressive collection of his paintings. Whilst Ann went into the gallery, I took the opportunity to have a long brisk walk along the Loue river, bearing in mind that most of our walking has necessarily been at a snail’s pace. Then, back cross-country to Baume-les-Dames, and out to a local restaurant for an excellent dinner. A great day out in the country!
The next day we headed for Dijon, which you can read about in the next blog.
Slingsby's Miscellany 