Cycling Besançon to Mulhouse, France: Camping in a Goat Playground
12-14 August 2019
Besançon to L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs (12 August 2019, 71 km, 44 mi)
It was a very rainy morning. The forecast originally predicted that the rain would end by 10am, so we headed out at 8:30am in a light rain, expecting that it would stop pretty soon.
We’re passing right by the eastern end of the Citadel Tunnel on the Rhône-to-Rhine Canal. We couldn’t help but stop, and take a peek inside. Besançon, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We soon arrived at the Citadel Tunnel which is more than twice as long as the Thoraise Tunnel that we had passed a couple of days ago. That’s long enough that you can’t really see much light coming in from the far end. It doesn’t have the festive, twinkling strings of light that we saw at Thoraise, but it is actually reasonably well lit. Aside from the slight echoing sound of the water lapping at the walls, it was pretty much like any other tunnel.
Here I go! Into the mouth of the Citadel Canal Tunnel. Besançon, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The hilly landscape of the Jura Mountains continued today, with lots of forest and less agriculture. Although we saw some corn fields in flat areas, most of the land in the valleys was in pasture, with a few cows and horses.
Forested hills and pastures lined our route as we cycled out of Besançon, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
In some places, the Doubs River valley narrowed, and was bordered by rugged cliffs. In between periods of rain, a steamy mist would rise out of the river valley, filling the nooks and hollows of the surrounding hills.
At one point we took off our rain jackets, expecting a break in the showers. But we had misjudged the weather. By 10am, we were cycling through a steady rain, with no sign that it would be letting up. We got pretty wet, but fortunately the temperatures were warm enough that it didn’t matter too much.
On the bright side, we are starting to see a greater diversity of birds along the route. The Doubs River feels just a bit wilder, and more natural than the other landscapes we’ve traveled through since leaving Nantes. Today we saw quite a few Common Mergansers, a species that breeds in mountain rivers near the Alps, and requires mature forests for nesting.
A group of Common Mergansers, loafing on some rocks and logs in the Doubs River. France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We also started to see a lot more hawks once we got into the mountains. Most of them are common buzzards and Eurasian kestrels, with a few red kites sprinkled in. But the big, celebrity bird for the day was a Common Kingfisher. We’ve occasionally caught glimpses of these delightful little birds along the river banks, but today one of the kingfishers landed a couple of times on branches where we could get a good look at it.
European Kingfishers are gorgeous. They’re barely half the size of North America’s most common kingfisher, and much more brightly colored - sporting a neon turquoise and teal back and wings, over an orange belly. Their wingbeats are so incredibly fast, that they almost look like hummingbirds when they fly.
Common Kingfisher, Rhône-to-Rhine Canal, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Riding along the trail, we’ve seen a noticeable change in the behavior of other people. Across France, whenever you pass someone, they will almost always shout out a friendly, “Bon jour!” But that’s happening less and less. Now, many people just wave or nod, and a lot of people don’t respond at all when we greet them as we pass by. We’re just over 100 km from the border with Germany and Switzerland, so we’re wondering whether there is a regional change due to the more reserved Germanic culture, or whether there are just more people who speak other languages - so they’re not sure what language to use, and default to silence. We don’t really know.
Today we passed the WILLI, a big cargo barge on the Rhône-to-Rhine canal, for the second time. We first saw the WILLI three days ago, before our stop in Besançon. It made an impression the first time we passed it, because it’s such a big boat compared to others on the canal. It doesn’t move very fast, and we easily cruised past it again.
When we arrived at the campground in L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, we were amused to see a bunch of goats hanging out in their own playground. They had a see-saw, a cheery pink slide, and several, colorful inflated balls that they could play with, in addition to a variety of other elevated walkways and furniture they could clamber onto. Goats love to climb around on things, so this looked like a little goat paradise. They seemed pretty content.
Goats at play. L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
In the garden surrounding the campground’s registration office, a collection of fanciful bird statues added to the sense that this place had a joie de vie. L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Big, dark clouds rolled in while we were eating our dinner, and we finished just in time to dive into the tent when a heavy rainstorm passed over. Fortunately, it only lasted about 15 minutes. Then the sun came out again.
After the rainstorm, when we were cleaning up from dinner, I spotted a hedgehog on a lawn near the entrance to the campground. A living, breathing hedgehog!! The only ones we’ve seen so far were squished on the road, and we haven’t seen many of those. He was absolutely adorable. I waved down PedalingGuy, and we were both able to see not just one, but two hedgehogs. A woman who worked at the campground came over and told us that there was a whole hedgehog family living in the bushes around the manager’s house, including some little babies.
Spiky, but still adorably cute. A common hedgehog in L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs to Mulhouse (13 August 2019, 83 km, 51.6 mi)
We awoke to a misty morning in the campground. It had been a very peaceful night, something that can be rare in public campgrounds where there always seems to be something making noise. Either there are ducks quacking, cars driving by, farm animals making various noises, or people talking. It seems like the tent should block out some of the noise, but it doesn’t. Fortunately, we had pitched our tent in a large, grassy area at the far end of the campground. By the end of the evening, only two other tents had joined us. It was a nice, quiet neighborhood.
Our two neighbors at the campground in L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, We all spread out, giving each other space. France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We had a pretty long day of biking planned, so we tried to get an early start. But we were thwarted. Rolling out of the campsite, I noticed that my back tire was going flat. We made ourselves comfortable on a concrete wall near the bath house, and proceeded to change the tube.
PedalingGuy was able to locate a tiny, sharp object in the tire, that probably caused the flat. But when I went to remove it from the tire, we couldn’t find it again. Then PedalingGuy complained that it felt like he had a splinter in the tip of his finger. Hmm. We now think the pointy object ended up embedded in the tip of his index finger. It’s bothering him, but not enough for him to let me do needle surgery to remove it. He thinks that would be worse. So he’s going to tough it out, and wait for the splinter to work itself out of his finger by itself.
Another thing that slowed us down was the search for a bakery in L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs that was open. At least three bakeries in town were closed for most of the month of August. Rather than hire someone to staff the store while they are on vacation, they simply close for a few weeks. We wonder if this has anything to do with the regulations in France, which might make it difficult or too expensive to hire someone to staff the store when the proprietor is on vacation.
We ended up having a picnic breakfast of granola bars, fruit, and fruit juice. It was pretty good, but not quite as good as fresh quiche from a bakery would have been.
It was a beautiful day for biking. The weather has cleared up nicely, but remains cool. We followed the Doubs River and the Rhône-to-Rhine Canal for most of the day - still traveling through terrain that is surrounded by forested mountains.
Since entering the western part of France, we have seen more and more of these decorative, glazed-tile roofs - a style that’s common on German churches and government buildings. France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Another feature that has “sprung” up in towns is a public drinking fountain. Some of them have potable water, and some don’t. But they’re all attractively decorated with flowers and stonework. Etouvans, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A lovely natural area along today’s route. Canal de la Haute Saône, Fesches-le-Châtel, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Towns in France can actually compete for a designation as a “floral town,” accompanied by a rating system of two to four flowers. Many towns go all-out to decorate public spaces with colorful flowers, including bridges. Bourogne, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Today we saw our first white stork since leaving Spain five months ago. It was circling high in the sky, then appeared to head off to the south. Have they started migrating already? Storks were prominent characters in France’s Alsace regional folklore, but had disappeared from the region by 1970. They are now making a comeback. It was a pleasure to see one of these big birds soaring overhead again.
Then, just past 50 km, something amazing happened. We crested a ridge, and started going downhill, all the way into Mulhouse. The truth is, although the riding has not been too hilly, we were really going slightly uphill for most of the time in the past few weeks. Now we had the chance to roll down a true, long, downhill. We sailed along at 25-30 km/hr (15-19 mph), and covered the last third of the ride in record time. It was wonderful.
In the evening we went out for a walk through Mulhouse’s old town. We’re staying at the Best Western le Bourse, which is near the picturesque Square de la Bourse.
The arcades along the Square de la Bourse are said to have been inspired by the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We made salads for dinner, with ingredients bought at a nearby supermarket. A hotel room also gives us the chance to dry out our wet tent. Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Mulhouse Rest Day (14 August 2019)
We stayed in Mulhouse an extra day, to rest and to take advantage of the hotel’s fantastic internet. It’s been a while since we’ve had good wifi, so there were a few things we needed to catch up on.
Over lunch, we went out for a walk. We visited the town’s main square.
Place de la Réunion is the center of Mulhouse’s old town. The Temple of Saint Etienne is on the left, and the Hôtel de Ville on the right. Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The Hôtel de Ville in Mulhouse is fascinating because it has a relatively plain architecture, painted with designs that make it look much more ornate. The choice of pink as the base color makes the building really stand out. Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A couple of ancient olive trees were growing in pots in the Place de la Réunion. They had been heavily pruned, and looked almost like bonsai versions of olive trees. Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Carousel and the Church of Saint Etienne, Mulhouse, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
