Saturday: The Freiburg to Mulhouse section proved the most complex as there were many towns & villages we had to weave through, each with a myriad of cycling signs providing directions to this place & that BUT a couple of time we missed seeing the #6 or turned in the wrong direction toward a town with a similar name to the one we were looking for! Bad Krozingen was particularly frustrating! In the end the 65km expected for the day turned out to be 78km. At least it wasn’t as cold as predicted as we had a weak sun to ride under.
We crossed into France from Germany without fanfare via two bridges firstly over the Rhine-Rhône canal then the Rhine itself. Whilst travelling in a united Europe is easier logistically it does mean our passports never get stamped ….. not nearly as exciting as crossing countries in the 1980s!
The nicest part of this leg of the journey was the cycle through the Forêt Domaniale de la Hardt Nord as it was completely away from cars, passing alongside farmland and through a forest alive with birdlife and, so the signs said, other animals such foxes, deer, badgers & other animals not familiar to us.
Our lovely host in Mulhouse, Dominique, met us at a pizza joint [L’Auberge Au Vieux Mulhouse] we’d honed in on, starving as we were after our slightly frustrating ride ……. many smaller towns DO NOT have decent cafes in them & EVERYTHING closes between 12-2pm, so we learnt early on to be better prepared food-wise.
After 3 nights in Mulhouse, Tuesday saw us heading for Montbeliard (666km). Dominique accompanied us to the edge of town to see us on our way. The morning was cold – between 4 & 6C, and didn’t warm up much more but at least the predicted rain held off. We cycled along the canal for most of the way, past fields of canola or brassica, through forested areas & villages. Along the way signs telling us of the plant, animal, bird & insect life proved interesting; good to know what to look out for. Lots of locks, which meant tackling slight rises up from the flat gradient of the canal paths.
Morning tea spot was a delightful café in a town (Dannemarie) ruined by the fact all traffic (incl. heavy trucks) have to pass through it – turn in the wrong direction & it’s a nightmare on a bike but turn left past the Hotel de Ville (decorated for Easter & with Presidential election posters, and had a stork’s nest on the roof) and a café beckons offering yummy pastries washed down by warming cups of tea! We bought lunch food there, which we ate much later in a sunny spot in Brognard where we watched people fishing before the sun was swallowed by dark clouds forcing us back onto our bikes for the last 12kms into Montbeliard’s Ibis Budget hotel.
The entrance into the old town off the EuroVelo 6 is was signposted & cleverly developed; most towns & cities near the EV6 are going all out to welcome cyclists with tourist information centres offering good advice with respect to other interesting cycle circuits in the area. [The information centres are not always easy to find; if one follows road signs for them one does a big circle as a car driver would when a quick bike through the middle of town would see us there in 5 mins!] The Montbeliard Ibis Budget though was located next to a sports ground & out by the big box stores that everyone has to drive to so was a bit of nuisance getting to by bike until we found out where bike lanes lead to. Once we were settled into our room & showered we headed back into the old town to do the small walking tour & in search of food. We should have worn our down jackets!! Temperature fell to below freezing! AND, the restaurants didn’t open for food until 7pm!! Brrrrr!!
Wednesday: After a rather desultory petit dejeuner (just too much packaging & Nestle products) at the Ibis we wrapped ourselves as warmly as possible & headed for Deluz (82km) where we’d booked an AirB&B for the night. The initial run along the canal and the River Doubs was delightful – easy cycling – with lots of open fields and little villages tucked away. Morning tea stop in L’Isle sur-le-Doubs was at a lovely warm Salon de Tee & Patisserie. We stocked up on lunch supplies before wrapping up again & heading on ….. 7C posted on the sign across the road. We hadn’t even got out of the village (another cut up by a busy, heavy road going through it’s narrow streets; nearly got caught by a truck on a tight corner!) when it started to snow so another layer of protective clothing went on. Head down bum up we peddled on through sleet then steady rain. By the time we stopped in Roche les-Clerval it had fined up enough to consider stopping for lunch at the top of a steep climb. We chose an ancient communal laundry building in which to shelter & were visited by the mayor who asked if all was okay with us. Very friendly and interested in our experiences.
Afternoon tea in a wee café dealing in a wide variety of biscuits (Billottes) on the outskirts (near the EuroVelo route) of Baume les-Dames to warm up before tackling the last 16.5km run into Deluz, arriving there just before 4pm.
As our host Corinne had indicated we needed to make a steep climb up to her place; we took the shorter steeper route along a graveled walking path. What a work out for arms & legs!! The view was worth it as was the warm hospitality of our hosts……. The roaring fire helped, too.
Thursday: 87km Deluz to Dole. The best day so far as the sun shone all day though the temperature didn’t get much above 10C. Lots of interesting interpretation panels to ‘read’ & lots of action on the water – people on canal boats & a great deal of birdlife. Really love the fact that one hears bird song all the time, and the birds are really active in the trees and fields, particularly the rooks and swallows. Everyday we see many grey herons – they must find the fishing along the canals & rivers very productive.
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| Our view from AirB&B in Deluz & the backyard. |
We had thought of stopping in Besançon for morning tea as the castle ramparts & forts looked enticing but we were through the place before we knew it & not one sign directed us off the EV6 to an easily accessible café! Loved the tunnel we had to go through & the interesting industrial ruins between Besancon & Dole. As we came into the Jura region the signs explaining the points of interest to be seen on the EuroVelo 6 route were explained in 3 languages … very handy.
We stopped in Commune d’Avanne-Aveney for supplies at a wonderful boulangerie-charcuterie-patisserie – pastries, fruit juice, banana, tomato & mozzarella salad, and a baguette. We found a sheltered, sunny spot in front of the Mairie to partake of the sweet delights alongside a couple of other EV6 cyclists going in the opposite direction. Today was the first time in 3 days we have seen other cycle tourists – obviously other people waited for the weather to improve before venturing out!
We ate our lunch near St Vit overlooking a barrage & lock – the tomato & mozzarella salad was particularly tasty but a lovely hot cuppa would have helped wash it down. Our thermos is not keeping the water as hot as we’d like and the numerous wee porta-cabin cafes along the route do not open until late May when the tourist season really starts.
At Rans we had to cycle for 6km on road through the village of Etrepigney through to Orchamps. The road was freshly constructed & sealed yet they left no room for cyclists with gravel off to either side of the road. AND, this rural road was unusually busy … until we saw that locals were flocking in for a funeral at Etrepigney. Much of the rest of the ride into Dole was along the river Doubs & the barrage-canal-lock system that enables boats to move along it. The route is often shared with cars but mainly just lanes used by people heading for their holiday homes built over-looking the river. All very bucolic …..
Dole is a large town with a wonderful ancient centre. We had booked a 2 star hotel right on the edge of the centre and easy to get to from EV6. From the outside it doesn’t look much but inside is very clean & bright with very friendly staff; we have two nights here.
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