Strasbourg to Dijon
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After farewelling Ella at Strasbourg, our vague longer-term plan was to head west to Bretagne. In the first instance, we aimed for for a short stay in Besançon, where we were able to organize services for our bikes, and a train trip to Lyon to exercise our democratic duty in the Australian elections. The ride down the Doubs to Besançon was through hilly country and gorges was so appealing that we decided to turn eastward into the hills to explore the upper Doubs.
Day 1. Strasbourg to Markholsheim
21 April 2025 (56 km)
At last, after six blessed months, we struck some less-than clement weather on leaving Strasbourg. Cycling south from Schiltigheim, where we had been staying in the northern suburbs, we found ourselves discovering corners of Strasbourg that we hadn’t seen in our week there. After navigating around the maze of canals in Strasbourg itself, it was a very canal-based ride all day, along the Canal du Rhone à Rhin. It being Easter Monday, there was not much open. The rain cleared by lunchtime, and we had a picnic lunch under a colourful tree in the sun at the delightfully named town of Boofzheim. A short ride off the canal to our chambre d’hôtes in Marckolsheim (Chez Stef), where we thankfully found a restaurant for dinner despite the holiday - avoiding a dinner of fruit and crackers.
Day 2. Markholsheim to Mulhouse
22 April 2025 (67 km)
With finer weather again, we headed back along the canal for 5 km before heading right along another canal to Colmar. Colmar is a pretty town that was heaving with tourists. We had a poke around for an hour or so, and bought a couple of bagels at the market for a picnic lunch once we were somewhere quiet.
The road out of Colmar was fairly busy (but with a decent enough bike lane along it) until we hit another canal toward Mulhouse. The unsealed path along the canal was good, and we finally found a shady bench next to a busy road for our picnic. We practised saying Mullhoooz as we rode into Mulhouse’s busy streets and were welcomed by the friendly staff at Hotel Berti. After a walk around town, and an apero in the square in the afternoon sun, we headed to a spanish restaurant for dinner, where Chris tipped an entire glass of beer into his lap, smashing it in the process. A good, but uncomfortable dinner of tapas followed.
Day 3. Mulhouse to Montbeliard
23 April 2025 (56 km)
Another day of flat canal riding, up to the Rhine/Rhone divide, with a noticeably increasing gradient toward the top, as les écluses became more frequent. We saw lots of storks and their nests along the way. At 25 km we stopped at a bike repair station (with a bookable cabin and a shower/toilet). The pump there was useless, so we ended up using own pump to pump up the tyres and our own tools to tighten some bolts. After a coffee at the cafe next to the station, we headed on leaving lunch until our destination to beat the rain.
Ten km before Montbeliard, the canal meets the Bourbeuse River along some forested hills, and we began to feel we were following a river more than a canal (something of a continuum in France). The threatening rain held off all day until our early arrival at Montbeliard a little after 2. At the Hotel Balance we were greeted at the door to the bike room, and ushered into the lift to our nice room on the second floor. Dinner was a flash French spread at La Pause Gourmande.
Day 4. Montbeliard to Baume Les Dames
24 April 2025 (60 km)
Our earlyish departure was delayed by yet another flat tyre for Chris - very tedious. But once away it was a really pretty ride along the flat river trail, first through hilly country and then along very gorgy country once we hit Le Doubs. We stopped for lunch at a boulangerie at Isle sur Doubs, where we checked out Le Camping that we had been contemplating staying at had the weather been more clement. It would have been a good place to stay.
We struck one particularly heavy rain spell before lunch, and stopped for the first time all trip, to don overshoes as well as overpants.
But after a brief post-lunch shower that we spent sheltering under a tree in Isle sur Doubs, it didn’t rain again for the rest of the ride.
The final hill to our gite at Baume Les Dames was a killer, and we were befriended by Marie Blue, who was climbing the hill on her electric scooter.
Day 5. Baume Les Dames to Besançon
25 April 2025 (39 km)
We were greeted by a cold and drizzly morning when we looked out our window into the large garden of our gite. With the prospect of a rainy day and a late check-in at our place in Besançon, we decided over breakfast to leave our departure until 11, and then to make a short trip into town for morning tea in the hope that the drizzle would pass.
It was still drizzling when we farewelled our hosts, and it was a cold roll down the hill. The drizzle did stop as hoped after 45 min or so sipping coffee in a bar in the old town, and we headed out down to the river. It was quite an atmospheric ride along the gorge to Laissey, where we joined the crowd in a restaurant for a set menu. By the time our leisurely lunch was done, the sun was shining, and we had received a message from our host that our apartment in Besancon was ready. Happy days.
It was a pleasant ride along the river and its gorges all the way to Besancon for a five-day rest. The pretty old town of Besançon, where we were staying, sits in a bend of the river, surrounded by steep hills.
Day 6. Besançon to Nans sous Saint Anne
30 April 2025 (49 km, 460 m climb)
Our five days in Besançon involved leaving our bikes for a few days to be serviced, and a day train-trip to Lyon to pick up our postal votes and send them off in time for the May 3 election (and to have lunch in the sun in Presqu’île with Fred and Jérémie). It was good just to mooch in our flat in the old town of Besançon, but we did have a day walking up the hill to La Citadelle (a bit of a sad zoo and the worst lunch of the trip to date, but great views of the town and impressive buildings and history).
By the time it came around to leave, the weather had turned decidedly beau. Nans sous Saint Anne is a tiny village, which we chose as a destination on the basis of the lovely sounding B&B there (À l’ombre du chateau). The destination, the way there, and the perfect weather, made this day a definite candidate for the top ten days of the trip.
The lower Doubs was mirror still for our final ride downstream, passing sights that we will just have to remember with our eyes for the want of a better camera; like a heron in deep concentration, standing stock still in the shallows among the lillies.
After 10 km we turned left up the hill, including a couple of hundred metres of 19% gradient—we both managed it, which restored our confidence a little after the shambles of that tunnel on the road to Innsbruck. After a couple of rests up that hill we met our first busy road in a long time. After waiting at the intersection for several trucks to pass, the 800 m to the next quieter road was fine. The smaller road was fun - a long downhill roll to La Loue at Chenecy Buillon, where we found a very attractive terrace by the river. The owner of the restaurant, sitting at his computer at a table, kindly made us coffees even though they were closed. We gratefully sat and pondered the river.
Up the hill from there through forest for a couple of km until we hit Charnay, where we had a rest in the shade (the 20\(^\circ\)C sun being too much for us). After a chat with an old local tending his garden, we had another fun roll down another hill to Le Lison. The designated bike route follows the road south over the hill for the last 10 km to Nous sans Saint Anne, but cycle.travel suggested the unsealed river track along Le Lison. It was rocky and steep in places, requiring some walking. But with the time to take it slowly it was a great way to go. We found a beautiful place for lunch by the river under the moss galleries hanging from the riverside beech, watching the masses of darting insects over the rapids.
‘À l’ombre du chateau’ was incredible. Welcomed by Cathie (and their old english sheepdog and their friendly cat) we were shown the grand living room, the dining room and our room on the corner upstairs. Chris had a fresh swim in the pool before a we took a passegiata up the Verreau to the waterfall and a lovely dinner cooked by Pierre.
Day 7. Nans sous Saint Anne to Pontarlier
1 May 2025 (41 km, 720 m climb)
The climb up out of the valley from Nans sous Saint Anne was long and steep in places, but mainly shaded by the forest. We rested at the top, by a book box at Crouzet Migette. From there it was a mix of open alpine meadows and pine forests, still climbing, but less steeply to Levier, where we hoped to find an open boulangerie on a public holiday. Sadly no, so we rested on the stoop of one of the closed boulangeries in the shade before heading off up another hill into more forest.
A section of gravel road marked as sealed on the map was made up for by the perfect new seal on the stretch marked as unsealed a little further on. This made for a lovely ride through the alpine meadows. We settled on the mossy floor of a grove of pine trees at about the 22 km mark for lunch of sorts (some pear cake pilfered from the morning’s breakfast). We then ploughed on to Pontarlier stopping for a couple of rests out of the sun. It was a quiet May Day night in Pontarlier.
Day 8. Pontarlier to Villers le Lac
2 May 2025 (46 km, 650 m climb)
After breakfast chatting with our host Arlette about life etc., we ventured out into another warm sunny day. It began with an easy ride along le Chemin de Train for 15 km down the Doubs Valley. Turning off the bike trail, we dropped down to the river at Ville de Pont, and climbed steadily to the Col sur le Mont. We found ourselves lingering on the pass chatting to other passing cyclists, before rolling down the other side to the valley toward Morteau.
It was a dry argument for lunch options until we found a boulangerie on the outskirts of Morteau, where we stopped for some picnic provisions. We then rode on to the park next to the river for a shady lunch in a picnic shelter.
The ride up from Morteau was fairly steep from the outset, and we chose to take the longer but less steep option rather than following the GTJ cycle route straight up the hill. The climb up to the highest point was not so much a pronounced pass at the last hill, being a turn off down the road to Villers. The roll in to Villers was fun, and our apartment was a comfortable place to base ourselves for a day to immerse ourselves in the Australian election.
