We have ridden about 280 miles in the last week and both Chris and I feel like we need a break for a day. We both feel a general fatigue, a need to get out of the sun and heat for a while, and simply take a break from being on our bikes. So we’ve rented an apartment in Besançon for a couple nights to chill out, get some rest and be tourists. It’s hard to believe that when we leave Besançon, we’ll only be about 100 miles from Basel, Switzerland. Fate willing, we will have crossed France by the end of the week.
Today was a very nice ride. The path was smooth, except for one detour that had us riding over rough ground for about a mile. The landscape has changed significantly, with dramatic limestone cliffs flanking the sides of the canals and rivers, and being surrounded by fairly rugged hills with dense woods. The bike route is amazing. We have a nice tailwind pretty much the entire day, and so we made good time into Besançon. The approach is dramatic with the citadel looming on top of the cliffs above Besançon.
Our apartment is about a mile outside the historic center and so we navigate through town and climb a few steep hills in the afternoon heat. We’ll visit the historic parts in the cool of tomorrow morning. The apartment is pretty cheap at €116 ($120) for 2 nights and it’s nice. They even have a small locking garage for our bikes and there’s a grocery store literally across the street. A cold bottle of rosé is in our immediate future.
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