October 29, 2017
Day Thirty Nine:Besancon to Choisey (just past Dole): (Year 39: 2006)
Flash Back to 2006
For a few years yet, farming and crafts continued to define our way of life. In fact, we increased turkey and chicken production and had hundreds of customers for our quality product. We even published a bi-annual flyer called the "Turkey News". Apple juice was also a big thing, and we now had equipment that could process hundreds of pounds of apples per hour.
Turkey in the Straw, here in a 1942 version is a classic "farming" tune:
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Flash Forward to 2017, France:
As has so often happened, passing though a town the morning after puts it in a new perspective. When we first arrive there are often crowds, and of course we do not know where or if we will find food, lodging, or any services we may need. But by next morning we know "everything" and the crowds are still asleep so we get another, different, look.
Today one thing that caught my eye in Besancon was a "Doner" place (near Quai Vauban - I think it was called Big Ban.) Yesterday I was eyeing it as a possible source of sustenance, but today I could see it as somebody's business, somewhere they have dragged themselves to every day (except jours feriées, congé, Monday, Sunday, etc. etc.) for months or years. This viewpoint makes it all seem more like home, less foreign, for whatever that is worth.
This time, instead of going through the tunnel that cuts across the river loop of Besancon, we spun around the loop and onward. This allowed us to see just a little more of this very "picturesque" place. I used the cliché picuresque because it is exact in this case - every point of view seems to belong in a painting.
The one drawback is that most of those paintings would be of buildings. But not all, how about this:
Something we have been doing just a bit these last days is to be reading both our own blog from two years ago, when we briefly we on exactly the same route as now, and the blog of Kathleen and Keith Classen, who passed by here six weeks ago.
On our blog we noted that outside of Besancon there was one of those bollards that rise out of the ground, to block the path from cars, except those with a key to lower the barrier. A flashing light beside the then hidden obstruction distracted Dodie last time and she almost went flying as she hit the two inch high concrete housing that the thing lives in. This time we were watching for it, and could see that that housing really was a hazard.
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An activity like trying to spot something you saw before can be amusing. Also amusing is trying to spot something you know another cyclist saw, or staying in the same hotel/same room as they did, or seeing if the hotel staff remembers them.
We like all that. But now we have run into a side effect, called:
Keeping Up With the Classens
This started when we checked on where the Classens stayed in Dole (Hotel de la Cloche) and judged it outside the budget, by virtue of exceeding 100 euros. So we put ourselves in the Ibis in Choisey. No problem. But then on the way to Dole, we passed something called the Percée de Thoraise. It's a tunnel/canal that cuts across a loop in the river, at Thoraise. Ok, fine. I was ready to blow by with a "Yup, it's a tunnel" when Dodie said "Kathleen went in there and saw the fairy lights and stood by the waterfall". "Ok, ok, where are these darn lights?"
So I got off the bike, realized I had to walk up some stairs and down, not grumpily, but it was extra effort. And here are my photos:
If you check the Classens blog, you will see Keith's elegant shot of Kathleen on those stairs, the tunnel, and so forth. Hard act to follow. What's more, I think the Grampies of two years ago might have some good shots of the area too, but I am afraid to look! I bet they even figured out all the signs about the history of the place. I wouldn't put it past them!
Aside from following riders of the past, there is always the fun of encountering other riders on the same trail right now. This time we ran into Andy and Kathy, not far from Orchamps and approaching us as they rode from Dole. It turned out that Andy works for the U.S. diplomatic service in Geneva and they have been cycling sections of Eurovelo 6 by driving out from there as a base. This time they came to Besancon, in fact noticing us as we cycled into town. Then as a weekend activity they cycled from Besancon to Dole and back. What a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Kathy had noticed us at first because of our DaBrim visors - she has one too. And we noticed that today she was using handwarmers - bar mitts - that fir over your brake and gear controls and keep your hands toasty inside. Kathy's were from "Scoot Logic". She found them on the internet and got them in the States.
Naturally we took the fact of Andy and Kathy living in Geneva as an opportunity to fantasize about what that would be like. They are getting to do it because of work, but they too are wondering what it would be like to live in Europe, after retirement. They have actually been all over the world, most recently in Korea. Andy said that Korea has a great network of bike routes throughout. That could be worth checking out.
Even though the Ibis we chose was beyond Dole about 10 km, we thought about stopping in, mostly to look again at the house of Louis Pasteur. But then, we knew Grampies of two years ago had already had a good look at it. It's a bit of a schizophrenic situation. When we go back to somewhere we have been, we most often either don't remember, and so can enjoy it all over again, or we see new angles that make it worth while to have gone back. On the other hand, if rushed, cold, or hungry we can also say "Been there, done that". Today, we were actually cold and hungry, so we just hustled on over to our warm, dry Ibis.
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While we are warming up, you could hop over for a look at Pasteur's parents' house, courtesy of those former Grampies. Or may we suggest a great meal next to the Hotel de la Cloche, with the Classens!
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,478 km (918 miles)
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