Been There, (Not) Done That

One of the concerns that I had about our out-and-back cruise on the Canal du Rhone au Rhin this summer was the possibility of too much "I've been here already, I don't need to do it again." Unfortunately, I'm easily bored, and usually don't care to repeat places or experiences unless there is something that I've found to be particularly special. The antidote to that is to realize that one time through a city/town/region can never be enough to fully explore what an area has to offer--it just takes a little digging and a little effort to come up with alternative experiences. So that is the approach that we took to our 10-day hiatus in Besancon. We enjoyed relaxing mornings without the need to "get up and get moving", but also did the following:

1) We explored more of what Besancon had to offer.

An unusual sight this summer--cloudy and rainy skies during

our first couple of days in Besancon.  But that's OK, they

could use the rain.

A walk through Parc Micaud on the "opposite" side of the

river gave us this view of CARIB III (in the middle of the pack),

moored under the watchful "eye" of the Citadel.

Our view of the Citadel during an

 evening stroll just down

the street from our mooring spot.

We bicycled around the Besancon "loop" to view more of

Vauban's fortifications, the Quai Vauban (17th C, left in photo),

 and the Battant neighborhood (right in photo).

To look at this little bit of stone, you'd never imagine it is

the remnants of a Roman amphitheater from the 1st century that

could hold up to 20,000 spectators. It was dismantled in the 

Middle Ages and the stone used for building local houses.

Our bicycle ride took us through the tunnel that cuts under

the Citadel. We'll be using this tunnel when we leave Besancon

on Monday (August 5). It takes us into a lock at the opposite

end of the tunnel and then back into the Doubs River.

Besancon is the center of watchmaking in 

France. In keeping with its horological history,

this Astronomical Clock was designed and built

in the late 1850's by the master watchmaker

Auguste-Lucien Verite. It occupies a room in the

 lower part of the bell tower of Saint-Jean

 Cathedral and one of its functions is to

 operate the clocks of the cathedral. 

It has over 30,000 parts, including religious 

automatons in the upper part of the clock.

(Apostles rings chimes and Jesus is either

 buried or resurrected, depending on the hour.)

A free classical music concert in the courtyard of the

Renaissance Palais Granvelle took an unexpected turn when

the contrabass fell and was damaged. I somehow managed

to capture the "moment of horror" for the 3-person musical

group when it happened--it was a rather loud "thunk".

We also went to two movies, and re-encountered both Louis Pasteur (he was educated in Besancon and for 3 years was the schoolmaster of the Jesuit school in the city) and Marquis Jouffroy d'Abbans (of steamboat fame--the statue in Besancon is in much better shape than the monument in Baume-les- Dames.)

2) We took a train ride to the city of Belfort. The city is just north of Montbeliard, so our route involved a bit of "backtracking" and allowed us to see the Rhone-Rhin waterway at Baume-les-Dames, L'Isle-sur-les-Doubs, and Montbeliard from a different perspective. Belfort is located at the junction of the Alsace and Franche-Comté regions. It has an old town, with buildings dating back to the Middle Ages, but it also brought us into contact again with master fortification designer Vauban as well as Statue of Liberty designer Bertholdi (mentioned in the previous posting about Colmar).

Like Besancon, Belfort has a Citadel. It was 

built in stages, starting in the Middle Ages, with

significant contributions by Vauban in the late

17th Century. 

Another aerial view of the Citadel fortifications in Belfort. It

had particular significance as an entrenched camp for the 

people of Belfort in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.

Bartholdi's Lion is a symbol of the city's 

resistance during a 103-day siege at the end

of 1870. (Lon is in the foreground)

History is all well and good, but Belfort is also city firmly rooted in the present. Like Montbeliard, it has a significant 

industrial footprint. This photo shows the location of Bertholdi's Lion at the base of the Citadel, and the sign "Support the 

Employees of General Electric" speaks to the impending loss of about 1000 GE jobs in Belfort (almost a quarter of the 

current GE workforce there).

Belfort as seen from the Citadel

 3) We had fun with ruins. All we can say is, those folks in the Middle Ages sure did love their castles. In the blog posting of June 25 I mentioned how we had seen castle ruins on the bluffs above us as we cruised by Montferrand-de-Chateau. We thought it would be fun--when we had a rental car--to see those same ruins "up close and personal".  And it was.

We parked in the town of Montferrand-de-Chateu

and climbed the path to the site of the ruins.

One source states this remnant was part

of the chapel

View of the Doubs from the ruins of the Chateau de 

Montferrand. We recognized the boat cruising by as belonging

to two women from Belgium that we met in Besancon.

"Look ma, no railings!" The site was not

set up for safety and security,

so approach the edges at your own risk

There's something fascinating about ruins that haven't been restored to death--an authenticity of age that is compelling in a way that a fully reconstructed historical site just can't match. So with that in mind we also stopped at another medieval chateau, Chateau de Montfaucon. The remains of the 11th century castle, damaged and abandoned during the Ten Years' War in the early 1600's, stand on a rocky spur overlooking the Doubs Valley. Remnants of a village that existed outside of the castle walls also remain.

A view of the castle ruins from the perspective of the old

village.

The interior castle grounds were behind a

 locked gate, so I had to settle for a

 photo taken through the gate.

Lon at the "dungeon" end of the ruins

4) We explored UNESCO sites associated with the history of salt. We started our day in Salins-les-Bains, where for over 1200 years a saltworks (Grande Saline) existed to produce salt from brine in the region. For centuries salt was a critical means of preserving food, and was therefore an extremely precious and expensive commodity. The production of "white gold" engendered a huge amount of effort: the brine was pumped from a bench of rock salt nearly 250 meters below the surface. Technology changed through the years, and ultimately economics caused the saltworks to close in 1962.

The Grande Saline (Great Saltworks) of Salin-les-Bains.

Vauban had a hand in designing a fortress
 (visible on the hill in the upper left) that helped to

guard the city of Salins-les-Bains. At one time Salins-les-Bains

was the second most important city in the region after

Besancon.

Underground tunnels dug in the Middle Ages

I think I liked this window and door combo because it

uses our boat colors

A second, associated "salt site" is the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. Louis XV ordered the construction of the Royal Saltworks and it was built between 1775 and 1779. It was created to function as an integrated factory in which most of the working community worked and lived, but to be honest, it sounded a little too insular to be comfortable. Brine from Salins-les-Bains was piped the 20+ kilometers to the factory site. It's an interesting example of the history of industrial architecture, but it was never an economic success and closed in 1895 after "only" 120 years. The site has undergone 3 rounds of restoration, and definitely has no aura of deterioration.

This photo shows only a portion of what is a semi-circular collection of 12 buildings, sites of work and life

for the director, the workers, and their entire families.

The building exteriors incorporated the motif of brine

pouring from a jug.

5) We drove to the birthplace of French artist Gustave Courbet in the town of Ornans, a mere 10 miles or so from Besancon. I don't know much about Courbet, other than that he is important as the leader of the Realism movement in 19th century French painting. This is the bicentennial year of his birth. Coincidentally, within just the past few days, a several-years-old lawsuit related to the posting on Facebook of an image of what some would consider to be a too-graphic Courbet nude was settled. (Google "l'Origine du monde" if you're curious.) The town was conducting its 43rd annual "Art et Artisant" festival this weekend, which made for a lively visit.

Ornans and the Loue River

A lively Sunday in Ornans

If there's a hilltop there's going to be a chateau. A mere

45-minute walk might have brought us to the summit.

We passed on that particular opportunity.

There was more "new" to do, but it's time to move on. Fortunately, we do not see any 90+ degree days in the forecast. Some thunderstorms are possible, but we can work around those.