Wednesday 25th July
Dôle to Besançon: Time unknown, Approx. 65km

“I started my day with a Nutella crepe and a coffee at a little café in Dole. It was right next to the cathedral. I visited the cathedral after my breakfast. Inside, it was quiet and cool, a welcome break from the heat outside. On the walls were the grand paintings and of course there were stained glass windows and intricate stone carvings on almost every pillar.

My odometer had given up the ghost and was now displaying a constant zero kilometres per hour. I would have to keep track of my mileage by using the distances displayed on the signs I was following between each town.

I was back following a river, and with it came the flurry of other cyclists. I would have to get used to it as I imagine the Danube and Rhine would only be more congested. The Doubs river, which I was now following, is my favourite river so far. Perhaps it was the steep V-Valley it runs through or maybe the sweltering hot sun that just made it look more refreshing than any of the others. Either way it wasn’t long before I was taking a swim.

Arriving in Besançon, I met up with Nelly and Julien, who I would be staying with that evening. After a quick shower, we went on a tour of the city. Nelly who is studying psychology, spent a year in USA and spoke English very well. She was very knowledgable about the city and told me about the history of every building and statue we passed. We had dinner at a creperie (more crepes or galettes as they called if they are savoury). Afterwards we went to a bar called ‘Lucky Bar’ which I would definitely recommend visiting, if ever you find yourself in Besançon. It’s main thing is that it’s got every board and card game known to man. Nelly picked out a couple of games and the three of us sat at a table. We were joined by a stranger who asked if he could join in on the game. The game we were playing is called Totem and is typically French. It’s a bit like snap with 4 players and when the cards match you have to have lightning fast reactions to be the first one to grab a wooden totem in the middle of the table. It was a lot of fun!”

Matt Krog

Read all of Matt’s posts on his website. All of the posts about Matt on CyclingEurope.org can be found here.