Route de les Sapins (route of the fir trees)

Tuesday 27th May

Time to head south - and hopefully find a little warmth. The past 3 days in Pontarlier have been pretty cool - 13 deg or so. We've even had the heater running overnight and both slept quite well with the cooler nights. Our hotel room had 2 doors - like an airlock where the space between the doors is cold, but inside is warm. And they had instructions on the wall on how to keep the room warm.

Dinner last night was at Buffalo Grill. We didn't go until 8 and this time there were a lot of customers there - and they were still rolling in at 9.30 when we left.

Today we have travelled 230k basically south to a place called Le Pont de Beauvoisin. Not long out of Pontarlier we came across 2 castles perched on cliffs on either side of a valley. They were almost close enough to throw rocks at each other. The drive was along good roads that followed valleys in and out of the mountains. Most of the country we passed through was forested and timber seemd to be the industry of the area. We met a couple of timber jinkers along the way, but they were coming towards us and on nice wide roads. When the forests gave way to open farmland it was cattle we were seeing. Dora found us a couple of shortcuts cutting down through the forests - one road called the Route de les Sapins (I looked it up - fir trees). Beautiful drive and mostly great roads. 

We didn't pick up any info on these 2 castles, but seriously,
they were so close they could poke faces at each other across the gorge.

As we got closer to our destination we finally caught sight of snow on the mountains to the east of us. I caught sight of one peak standing above the rest which I was assuming was Mont Blanc. Over the next few days I think we will get a few photos. 

We are now in a lovely apartment where we will be for a week as we explore the area. 

I dont like Mondays (or Sundays)

Sunday 25th May

Nothing to report today. Sunday and pretty much everything is closed. We used the day to get a few places sorted for the next couple of days. First - found the wool shop. Next - found Courtepaille and Buffalo Grill for dinners for the next 2 nights. Lastly had a wander around centre ville. It was Mothers day and we sat and had coffee at a boulangerie, and watched as many men wandered in and out in search of something for Mothers day. The boulangerie was sold out of yummy cakes so they didn't have much choice. 

One of the entrance gates to Pontarlier.

Pontarlier - this was once an abbey and then a hospital.

The Tour de France is coming here 26th July.
We will be home by then so hope to see some familiar sights on the telecast.

That was really the extent of our day. We headed out for dinner around 7 and wondered if the restaurant was not popular as it was nearly empty. The crowds started rolling in though after 8. 

Monday 26th May

Today we decided to visit the village of Lods, listed in our beautiful villages book.  It was a lovely drive in along a rocky gorge but when we got there we found Lods to be not at all interesting - every now and then we do get one of these nothing villages. There was another village only 5k away called Nods - we didn't go there. 

We continued on past Lods and found ourselves in the village of Vuillafans where we were a few years ago for a hillclimb. Nothing at all like we saw it that day - no shop, no bakery, no cafe. And they'd put posts along the footpath where we parked back then - no parking! Then on to the next village of Ornans where we stopped for morning tea.

This was the main bridge over the river in Ornans.

An interesting sculpture.

1953 and the bridge would have been under.

Now what!?! A looping drive back to Pontarlier looking for somewhere for lunch. That was really annoying - nothing open on Monday either. Doesn't anyone eat lunch on Mondays? We eventually found a restaurant in a village (Morteau) that had centre ville well hidden - I think you needed to be a local to find your way in. We sort of knew where we were trying to get to but it seemed like every road was one way, the wrong way. We eventually found a car park and walked in. Lunch was OK and from there we drove back to Pontarlier down a valley following closely along the Swiss border. 

The church in Doubs. It was very white which attracted our attention,
though the photo doesn't show that.
Can't tell you what the insides were like - it was locked which is unusual.

Golf anyone? Fore!!

Saturday 24th May

Moving day today. Not going very far - only 160k. Dora would have taken the easy option and had us go straight down the motorways, but I decided we'd do a bit of a loopy trip, mostly staying off the motorways, and travelling via a few smaller villages. As we moved westwards, away from Mulhouse, skirting the south end of the Vosges mountains, we lost all those German sounding village names, and the style of houses returned to more of the French style. The villages were still fairly close together for the first 50k but as we left the hilly country and moved in to more cropping country, the villages became further spaced. We were pretty excited to come into one village and there were 3 storks nests on the high spots. 

Amazing birds - anywhere high for nests.
Clack clacking away.

First stop was morning tea in a small village along the way, and where there was a local market underway. We wandered the market checking out the usual produce. We resisted the urge to buy anything as we are hotelling it for the next 3 nights with no cooking facilities. What has really surprised us everywhere is the cost of roast chickens. Much more expensive than home. Pork is cheap, beef sort of similar prices to home, and lamb similar (though we don't see much lamb here).

We stopped further along the way for fuel and to buy a sandwich for lunch. It was too early to eat so we were looking for a picnic spot along the way.

Not long after our picnic stop we spotted some turrets in amongst the trees in the distance. Have gps, will explore! We followed our noses and Dora into the wild and eventually came across the magnificent Chateau attached to the turrets. We think we'd snuck in the back service road - we did pass a sign which I think said private access, but we continued driving looking for a place to turn around, and eventually found ourselves on the main road in. It is now a hotel, restaurant and golf course. Pretty spectacular. When we followed this main entrance road down to the main road, there were huge signs advertising the hotel/restaurant. 

How's this for a Chateau?
The golf course driving up to it looked very pleasant.

One of the gatehouses.

The main entrance to the property (from the inside).

Not a lot else to see along the way, just more lovely French villages, though fewer and further between than those in the Alsace area. 

This was just a cute advertising picture.

Spotted this church up on a hill above a village.
Found our way up there but they wanted 9€ to have a look. Pass!

We are now in Pontarlier which is close to the Swiss border. The Tour de France is coming through this area at the end of July. We will check out some of the route in the next 2 days. 

Leave the car home

Friday 23rd May

Today was our last day in Mulhouse. We know we came here on our first trip to France 11 years ago, but don't recall actually going in to the city. Where we are staying, a couple of k north of the city, we are at the last stop on the tram line - 50m walk. We took advantage of the great public transport again today and headed to the train museum, change trams at Porte Jeune and a short walk to the museum. Rob enjoyed seeing all the train history again - I did a short cruise then enjoyed a coffee in the cafe. Another very cool morning but the sun came out in the afternoon for short spurts so a tiny bit of warmth poking through.

A carriage from the orient express train.

This train is awaiting restoration.

This train holds the speed record at 551 kph.

The 'cockpit' of the TGV.

Rob did a walk around the historic part of town for photos of street murals. We had a book in the apartment showing some older street art, and picked up a brochure in the tourist information office for some of the more recent art.

Mulhouse

Love this one.

And this.

William Wyler -  born in Mulhouse in 1902
and had 40 academy award nominations related to film directing.

Cute.

I wandered the shops near the centre of town and waited for Rob to come back. He came back with the news he had found a patchwork and wool shop not far away, so off we went. He enables my hobbies. More socks will find their way home. 

Tonight we are just relaxing and starting to pack our cases again, ready to move on tomorrow. We are both hoping for a better night's sleep tonight. Somewhere in this apartment block there was a couple arguing loudly most of the night - a lousy nights sleep.