More places were open on Monday morning in the old town of Montbeliard. Yesterday, being Sunday everything was closed. Today was the first day of school for French kids. Montbeliard is the home of Peugeot and Citreon cars. The city has a massive car factory on the outskirts of the city. Our ride continued on the canal today with a wonderful stretch of pavement. We have not had any gravel surfaces since the canal from Dijon. At about 10 km. before Mulhouse, Mary Ellen was desperate to find a toilet. We rode into a village off of the trail. We found public bathrooms outside at the city hall. They were both locked. In desperation, Mary Ellen went into the city hall. Mary Ellen was told that the bathrooms were broken. They refused her request to use the bathroom inside the city hall. Go around the corner to a restaurant, she was told.....no restaurant. We rode through the town, everything was closed. Finally, we found a "pub". Mary Ellen ran to the bathroom,while I ordered drinks. Such relief! While we were sitting there, drinking beer and watching French rugby on the big screen tv, in walked Sabine and her son, Thore. They had seen our bike outside the pub, the Eurovelo 6 route went right by the pub. They said that they would see us at the campground in Mulhouse. We finished our beer and headed for Mulhouse.
This father and son stopped for a visit. The young boy was full of "pourquoi's" about us and our bike - especially why did we each have two mirrors. As they left, we could hear the boy continue to ask his dad questions about us and our bike. The little boy had just come from his first visit to school that morning.
Le Doubs region has done an outstanding job on its infrastructure of its part of the Eurovelo. Every mile is painted on the paved trail to show where you are. They have provided picnic sites, rest areas and most appreciated is the free map book they have made up of their region full of info.
