6.30am and preparing to flee. Our cells were adjacent. I locked our bikes together outside our window but Mike took theirs inside. They had to walk over the bed to get around themThe route out of town took us past a beautiful park with huge insect sculptures It’s Sunday morning and a pigeon club is about to release birds from 2 trucks like this. They race home and trigger a timer when they enter their own coop. Huge prizes, it’s a big sport in Europe BART. The town, not the horseVeujeaucourt. Did I mention we are following the Doubs river. Sometimes in a canal but often using the river itself with weirs every 5 kms roughly to keep the water deep enoughLots of abandoned factories that were once thriving businesses, using the canal to export their products
I had a chat with these young men about where they were going. They’d bought the yacht in Croatia, sailed around Italy, into the Rhone in the south of France , then up through this canal heading to the Rhine. From there they were going to Prague of all places! Not sure which route they were planning to follow but there’s several
L’isles sur la Daub. A very welcome coffee break . It’s still only 26° but it got up to 36° after lunch so we were very happy we’d started early.Coming into Pays du Clerval. Picture perfect from every angle
Unfortunately the road rose steeply for the next 4 kms.
And again at Colombier Fountain. Susan experiences what washing clothes would have been like in the village LaverieThis may give an idea of how they made the Doubs navigable. A groin holds the level up and a lock lowers the boat to the next levelAlright, there were a couple of steepies we’d rather forgetBut ,oh my giddy aunt ! Most of the day was sensational with a good tail wind all the way. I set the spinnaker!THERE SHE BLOWS ! Baume les Dames after 65 kms, on the other side of the DoubsJust caught thé Boulangerie before it closed ,to replace some caloriesAnd a room for 4 in a really cute hotel. And after last night I mean REALLY CUTE
Paris to Paris 