Besancon and back.

As we mentioned last time we left Ali and John at Dole. They left for Paris on Saturday 8^th October. We departed on Sunday and headed to Besancon. After departing at about 0930 we travelled upstream sometimes on the Doubs river and sometimes on the canals built to bypass shallow and rocky sections. These sections often were just parts of the river cleared to a depth with nothing more than a simple wall dividing the channel from the variables of the river.

We decided at lunch time that we would settle for the night and we found a lovely mooring at Ranchot where the local Marie has set aside a specific area for vessels our size. Thoughtful people!

Next morning, off early and we arrived at Besancon early in the afternoon.

Surrounded by high hills and a loop of the Doubs river there has been a town here since before Roman times. They called it Vesontio and since then it has been invaded by many forces from the Barbarians in the 1^st century to the Germans in the 20^th.. They included the Spanish, Austrians and the Prussians. To offer the town protection, King Louis XIV built a massive citadel on the hill behind the city and this, with four other forts on the other surrounding hills, (costing him a massive fortune) all stand today. The citadel was used infamously by the Nazis as a prison during the second world war.

We climbed the hill and spent an interesting morning touring the well preserved buildings.

Part of the citadel is occupied by a zoo which was set up late in the 19^th century Attractive in a way but small and cramped by modern standards. The great apes have the best situation. They roam free in the large area that would have been the moat protecting the entrance.

After a stay of two nights we headed back to St Symphorien as we had plans to do some work on Matilda that would not wait.

On our leisurely trip back down the Doubs river, we looked at things and country that we had passed on the way up. One spot was a “nature” mooring at the start of a deviation at le Maroc where we stayed a full day and found the stop most relaxing. There was a partially deserted factory which had used the canal for transport of product and we did little more than ride to the local village and get shooed away by the occupants of the factory.

We spent a night at Ranchot again utilising that thoughtfully provided mooring and had dinner at the local Auberge. Lovely surroundings and ambience and Peter was served the toughest piece of steak that he had ever experienced. Three medalions of eye fillet that even the sharpest knife available could not cut. We are spoilt in Australia with the quality of our meat!

And so back to St Symphorien and those jobs on Matilda.

We will be off to Nancy for Christmas in a month or so.

Until then, we will keep in touch.