THe signage is mostly good, and there are few villages or much of anything to interrupt your rhythm. Well ok, there is the misleading signage near Voujeaucourt
At Voujeaucourt do not fall for the detour sign but go over this new cycle bridge.
And you have to keep your head up, else you will be mowed down by oncoming traffic, whether a pelleton of mad cyclists or a gaggle of mad in line skaters.
A referee will need to make measurements with the photo to see if any toes of the skaters are over the centre line. Even if not, they sure are a disconcerting gaggle of flying arms and legs.
At Montbeliard we came across a small tourist info office that was good. Not only was the lady interested in our trip in her region, but they had Eurovelo 6 maps for sale at the non ripoff price of 2 euros. There were also lovely flowers all around:
At Montbeliard the welcome at the Tourist Information was warm, and they had EV maps for sale individually at 2 Euros. Lots of flowers too.
With a second EV 6 Map 6 in hand, we could both have one to look at, presumably reducing our chances of getting lost. HA!
At a point where we were pretty sure we knew where we were and what we were doing, we met David Searle, riding an old 3 speed British bike. David was visiting friends on a canal boat and was taking time to go find and see the Peugeot factory and museum in Sochaux, a little north of where we were. Buoyed by David's detailed map, we set off in search of this wonderful thing about which we had known nothing.
I would characterize the museum as very deep but not broad. It is a fascinating display of many of Peugeot's products, from saws to pepper and coffee grinders, to of course cars and bikes. There are hundreds of cars in mint condition, dating from 1905 on. Many (most) are works of design art. It is unbelievable that they have been able to be preserved.
On the other hand, there is little about the company operations or philosophy or really much about its history. Still, it was fabulous and well worth it.
Here is some of what we saw. If there are no captions, we are just inviting you to look at the beautiful objects.
Peugeot is a family company that has been lead by a string of family members for over 100 years
Coming back from Sochaux, we decided on a "shortcut". This resulted in us wandering for an hour and doing some "exciting" hill climbs. Finally we got back on the (right) canal!
Hightailing it down the canal after an hour lost near Allenjoie.
There are still a fair number of people and families idly fishing by the canal. We are not sure if these guys were throwing back bait or sorting though their actual catch. Still the little girl was really enjoying herself.
We made it to Mulhouse, but having just really blown in off the veloroute, we have little idea of where we really are. We know that Germany is just over "there" across the Rhine and Switzerland is to the south a a bit.
Mulhouse. We made it. 90 km - not so far in terms of last year, but somehow far for this year.
By tomorrow we no doubt will have lots to report. But for now (with internet running out fast), live and direct from our office in Mulhouse, this is goodnight!
Our office in the sanitary block at Mulhouse Camping
