Got chatting to a couple of chaps from Barnsley last night and again this morning. Andrew and Simon. They are heading down to Interlaken today, which seems a bit too keen to us, but they reckon they'll be there by night fall. 550 miles all in. They're on the same return crossing as us next weekend so we'll no doubt be swapping tales. Simon recommended peeling off the autoroute and heading for Thann near Mulhouse on the French side of the Rhine near the bottom of the Black Forest. It's a bit of a playground for bikes and ideal if we want to stay in France. Looking at the map, I've explored the area before but we'll keep an eye on the weather and bear it in mind.
We're still none the wiser where to head. Weather looks fine everywhere so we're somewhat blessed, but it doesn't help narrow down our choices.
We decided to ride down to Luxembourg before making a decision, which is where we could take a quick fuel stop and toilet break. Louby fancied a cuppa but the queues and the complete chaos of it all put her off. We settled for some contraband sandwiches that we made up at breakfast and smuggled off the ferry plus a slice of rather delicious looking, but very disappointing, custard pastry.
We pushed on and aimed for Besancon. I've been through several times but never given the place any time. It would also drop us into the right area of France to go exploring.
Camp sites were limited. In fact they're was one, about 5km out of the town centre. It was a bit tired and run down, with an abandoned crazy golf course and an outdoor pool that was mysteriously shut down in the middle of August. But the pitches were a good size, although the grass could do with a cut. It was fine for a one night stop over but in future we'll stick to the municipal at Quingey.
We rode into town for an evening wander and hoped to find a bite to eat. We failed. It's a pretty enough place but slightly desolate on a Sunday night. The few restaurants we found were pizza restaurants and there is a pizza place back at the campsite, where I could also have a proper drink. So that's exactly what we did.
Tomorrow we'll move on, feeling like we either exhausted Besancon or never really discovered it's heart.
We're still none the wiser where to head. Weather looks fine everywhere so we're somewhat blessed, but it doesn't help narrow down our choices.
We decided to ride down to Luxembourg before making a decision, which is where we could take a quick fuel stop and toilet break. Louby fancied a cuppa but the queues and the complete chaos of it all put her off. We settled for some contraband sandwiches that we made up at breakfast and smuggled off the ferry plus a slice of rather delicious looking, but very disappointing, custard pastry.
We pushed on and aimed for Besancon. I've been through several times but never given the place any time. It would also drop us into the right area of France to go exploring.
Camp sites were limited. In fact they're was one, about 5km out of the town centre. It was a bit tired and run down, with an abandoned crazy golf course and an outdoor pool that was mysteriously shut down in the middle of August. But the pitches were a good size, although the grass could do with a cut. It was fine for a one night stop over but in future we'll stick to the municipal at Quingey.
We rode into town for an evening wander and hoped to find a bite to eat. We failed. It's a pretty enough place but slightly desolate on a Sunday night. The few restaurants we found were pizza restaurants and there is a pizza place back at the campsite, where I could also have a proper drink. So that's exactly what we did.
Tomorrow we'll move on, feeling like we either exhausted Besancon or never really discovered it's heart.
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