Besançon

A 17^th century Citadel dominates the city of Besançon. Designed by Louis XIV’s military engineer Vauban in 1668, the citadel and 11 other impressive military architectural sites were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. The fortifications cover 11 hectares and look out over the old town and the Doubs River. The site is encircled by ramparts with walkways and watchtowers, step out on to the Chemin de rond to walk along the citadel’s outer ramparts though if you’ve not got a head for heights you may not enjoy it. Set atop a hill 100 metres above the city, the walls are up to 20 metres high and 5 to 6 metres thick.

The Citadel is home to three museums: the Comtois museum (local life and history), the French Resistance and Deportation museum and the Natural History museum. Citadelle.com

Prehistoric pile dwellings Chalain and Clairvaux Jura

In 2011, 111 Prehistoric palaeolithic sites around the Alps were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. They are classified as being “representative of prehistoric habitats” from 5000 to 500 BC. All are located near the main water bodies in the Alpine arc. The Lake Dwelling is an “invisible cultural property.” These prehistoric dwellings were the first underwater cultural property to be inscribed. Now buried and covered with water, the remains including artefacts of every day life including food and fabrics. They have been incredibly well preserved in this waterlogged and oxygen deprived environment. clairvaux-les-lacs.com

Saline Royale (Royal Saltworks), Arc-et-Senans, Doubs

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for 40 years, the Saline Royale of Arc-et-Senans, commissioned by Louis XV, is the masterpiece of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. Built between 1775 and 1779, the factory was dedicated to salt production from the briny water of natural springs at Salins some 16km away. A unique monument consisting of eleven buildings, where almost the entire workforce lived as well as worked. salineroyale.com

Grande Saline Saltworks, Salins-les-Bains

The Grande Saline salt factory is one of the most ancient industrial sites in France. Salt was produced in this town for more than 1200 years. Sourced from natural saltwater springs, saltier even than the Dead Sea, in the 13^th century an underground gallery was created. The cathedral like tunnel is 165m long and part of a vast industrial complex covering two hectares which was built by the Dukes of Burgundy in the Middle Ages to produce the coveted ‘white gold.’ salinesdesalins.com

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The Chateau d’Arlay in the Jura department, Franche-Comté is close to the border with Burgundy and well worth a detour for its authentic beauty, gorgeous gardens and fabulous wine.

History of the Chateau d’Arlay

Chateau d’Arlay was built in 1774 on the site of a fort which dates back to 1150 and was home to the Countess Laraguais, heiress to the Princes’ of Orange’s holdings in the region and niece of Louis XV. During the French Revolution the castle remained unharmed but the countess lost her head and many of the chateau’s possessions were taken. Later, Napoleon ordered reparations to families who had lost belongings and the castle is full of furniture from the 1800s where the family replaced missing items. There’s an eclectic collection here including some fabulous giraffe memorabilia commemorating the arrival of Zarafa the giraffe in France in 1827. She was a gift from the Sultan of Egypt to Charles X of France and walked with her keepers from Marseille to Paris where she lived in the Jardin des Plantes – it caused a sensation in the day.

What to see at the Chateau d’Arlay

It’s a fascinating place to visit and owners and custodians of the castle, Alain and Anne de Laguiche, descendants of Countess Laraguais, have embarked on a programme of restoration that will take many more years and safeguard the chateau for future generations. They also make wine, and there’s a great shop where you can do a wine tasting and buy wine from the estate which is matured in the castle cellars. The vineyards were established hundreds of years ago by the Princes of Orange and have had a dramatic history, coveted by several nations. At one point they belonged to England, then Spain and then finally France.

The castle is lovely but it’s the gardens that make it a real knock out visit with exquisite views over the countryside and 8 hectares of walled park, it’s the perfect place for a breath of fresh air.

You’ll need around 3 hours to take a tour, visit the grounds and do a wine tasting.

Find the Chateau d’Arlay at Arlay, Jura, Franche Comte, about an hour’s drive from Chalon-sur-Saone. Website: www.arlay.com 

Discover loads more to do and lots of chateaux to fall in love with at: en.bourgognefranchecomte.com

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If you like your castles to be brooding, dark and dramatically handsome, then the Chateau de Joux in the Jura, Franche-Comté is for you.

Visit to the Chateau de Joux

Sandwiched between the mountains of the Vosges in the north and the Alps in the south, the Jura is a land of pinacled spires and soaring plateaux. There’s no better place to pop a castle than on top of one of these towering mountains to make impregnable. The Chateau de Joux is perched on one such rocky peninsula along one of the ancient major trade routes of Europe and it tells a tale of a thousand years of military history.

A visit here is not for the faint-hearted, those who have mobility issues and definitely no pushchairs. There are no lifts or ramps, you have to get into the castle via steep stairs. It’s worth it though because this isn’t like any other castle. “Here we dream of history” said Francois Miterrand when he visited and he’s right, this place feels alive with the past – 1000 years worth.

A dramatic, stark chateau

It was also once a prison: “the little sister of the Bastille” says the guide. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck just to think about those who have been locked up in this chateau. There have been many, including the unfortunate Berthe de Joux, wife of a crusader. Believing herhusband was dead, she fell in love with one of his companions. Alas the husband returned, killed the lover and locked his wife in a tower where she stayed for years until he died.

You can visit the cell where prisoners were held. When the guide turns out the light, the darkness weighs like a tangible horror, totally without light and silent, you can’t help but shudder. And, when the guide pours water down the well, in complete darkness, it takes several seconds until you hear the splash…

There are no glamorous furnishings, no pretty gardens to walk through – this is the bad boy of castles with seriously impressive views to match and kids will love its dramatic story. Parents might like to visit nearby Pontarlier afterwards where absinthe is made!

Open April – November, guided tour only, see the website for events and night time tours. Audio guides in several languages are available.

chateaudejoux.com

For more tips on what to see and do in the area see the tourist office website: https://en.bourgognefranchecomte.com/

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The long-distance cycling route, EuroVelo 6, runs 3,653 km from the Black Sea to the Atlantic, following the course of Europe’s major rivers. Rupert Parker gets on his bike and tries a short stretch along the Saône through Southern Burgundy.

EuroVelo 6 from Dole

As I’m setting out, the lady from the B&B Maison Curie tells me to visit the cemetery if I get into difficultly. “They always have a tap where you can fill up your water”, she says.  It’s good advice, which I’ll follow in the next few days as I cycle the EuroVelo 6, under cloudless skies, desperate to quench my thirst.

To get to my starting point in the Dole, I’ve taken the Eurostar from London, crossed Paris, and then caught a fast train. The city was the capital of Franche-Comté for over 300 years, before Louis XIV moved the parliament from Besançon. Imposing buildings, including the magnificent L’Hôtel Dieu, once the hospital, reflect its prosperous past. The famous scientist, Louis Pasteur, was born here in a tannery and they’ve preserved his house as a museum.

The Rhine-Rhone canal runs through the centre and I start my ride on the tree-lined towpath before meeting the river Saône. This is a quiet stretch of waterway, its surface clustered with water lilies, deserted except for the occasional pleasure boat. They’re coming from Saint-Jean-de-Losne which, because of its location at the confluence of two canals and the river, is one of France’s largest river ports. The water is wide here and its banks are stacked with craft of all shapes and sizes.

I skirt the village of Pagny-la-Ville, leaving the river, but rejoin it at Seurre where I overnight in B&B La Valériane, once the gendarmerie. The family invite me to their Saturday barbecue and serve some choice cuts of Charolais beef, sourced from the local butcher. The generous owner, who’s also the town’s major, opens bottles of quality vintage Burgundy and my French seems to improve immeasurably.

Next morning, the breeze blows the cobwebs from my brain as I cycle cross-country to join the River Doubs for a short section. This meets the Saône at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, famous for Pôchouse, the Burgundy equivalent of Bouillabaisse. It’s a stew of local river fish, cooked in white wine and I get to sample it at Hostellerie Bourgignonne. Their version removes most of the bones, adds cream and includes eel, pike perch, perch, tench and carp. There are also a couple of slices of toasted garlic bread to soak up the juices and it’s the perfect lunch for a hungry cyclist.

Perhaps because of the influence of the wine, I lose the cycling track and end up on the main road, stalked by thunderous trucks.  It’s also the hottest day on my route and I arrive in Chalon-sur-Saône, completely drained. Copious amounts of water revive me enough to explore the city. Its medieval quarter is mostly intact and the two towers of the impressive St Vincent cathedral dominate the square. Chalon’s most famous son is Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography, and his statue stands by the river.

My bed for the night is three miles away in Dracy, slightly off track, but Hotel Le Dracy not only has a welcome swimming pool but also serves excellent food. Next day I follow the Canal du Centre, which connects the Saône to the Loire in a series of 80 locks. In the distance I spy the characteristic Burgundy vineyards lining the forested hills and stop in Santenay at Domain Prosper Maufoux for a tasting. It’s cool in the cellar but the winemaker tells me that Pinot Noir grape is really struggling with the increased temperatures. If global warming continues, they’ll have to replace it with another grape variety.

I leave the EuroVelo to see the magnificent Chateau de Couches. As you’d expect, it’s built on high ground so it’s a bit of a struggle. There’s an upmarket B&B in the grounds where I spend the night feeling like the king of the castle. Next day I’m back on the Canal du Centre and penetrate the industrial heartland of Burgundy. All that remains of a ceramics factory that employed 500 people is the owner’s mansion, Villa Perrusson, recently restored.

Further on, in Blanzy near Montceau-les-Mines, there’s an excellent museum devoted to coal mining, an industry which once employed 13,000 people. They’ve kept the original winding mechanism and it’s still in working order, but you’re not allowed to descend. Rather they’ve reconstructed a series of galleries on the surface with equipment from derelict mines. It effectively evokes the nightmarish conditions and sense of the claustrophobia the miners endured.

This is also the end of the road for me. I’m going to leave my bike here and have my last lunch at Au Vieux Saule in Torcy, before I catch the TGV back to Paris from Montchanin. I can’t help feeling sad that I haven’t tackled the whole route or, at least, the whole French part. Next time I’ll start in Basel, cross Alsace then enter Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, before following the Loire all the way to the Atlantic. It’s all perfectly possible I tell myself, as it’s mostly on the flat, following rivers and canals – just give me a month.

The EuroVelo 6 is well signed and almost impossible to get lost. Accommodation along the route is mainly in delightful bed and breakfasts and restaurants serve up delicious local food and wines. I carried everything I needed in two panniers and hired my bike locally. If you’re planning on doing the whole lot, it’s better to bring your own bike and there are ample repair shops along the way.

uk.voyages-sncf.com can arrange train travel from London via Paris to Dole; Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Tourisme has information about the region.

Rupert Parker is a writer, photographer, cameraman & TV Producer. His special interests are food & travel & he writes about everything from wilderness adventure to gourmet spa tours. Read about his latest adventures on his website Planet Appetite

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Ask any Frenchman or woman about going on holiday and you’ll find that an astonishingly large number of them will tell you they stay in France. It’s estimated that more than 60% of all French people don’t leave France for their holidays despite the proximity to neighbouring European countries.

The reason for the happiness to not go abroad is that France has an extraordinary array of different landscapes, cities, culture and gastronomy. From the cool climes of the north to the heat of the south, brilliant beaches, cliffs, mountains, lakes, forests – it’s no wonder the French love their country and want to stay home for holidays.

A recent contest held by TV channel France 2 asked viewers to vote for the most loved or popular village in France, le Village Préféré des Français as they say in France. Thirteen communes took part and nominated their most popular village. 175,000 votes were recorded and the winner for 2016 was Rochefort-en-Terre in Brittany.

Rochefort-en-Terre

With just 700 residents this pretyy little town gets 600,000 visitors a year, a third of whom come for the Christmas lights. It is also on the list as one of the small cities of character, one of the most beautiful villages in France and a Village Fleurie. A visit to this village certainly shows why it won. The streets are lined with ancient buildings, many topped with delightful signs, there are flowers everywhere from hydrangeas to geraniums, there is a lovely church and, as you might expect, a chateau on top of a hill, this one once owned and renovated by the artist Klotz.

The runners up:

Montreuil-sur-Mer (Hauts-de-France)

A beautiful walled, hill top town which inspired Victor Hugo to write Les Miserables. (Read more about Montreuil-sur-Mer)

Rocamadour (Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées)

 An astonishing landscape that takes your breath away. (More on Rocamadour)

Arbois, Jura, (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté)

Not well-known but definitely worth adding to your bucket list, not far from Besancon, it’s authentic and very pretty.

Vogüé (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Now this really is off the beaten track. A tiny medieval village along the Ardeche river in Rhone Alpes, it’s seriously picturesque.

By Linda Matthieu and Janine Marsh

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There’s no other word for it, Mont d’or cheese is unctuous, so much so, and here is a weird cheese fact – it’s one of only  a few French cheeses you have to eat with a spoon!

Gooey, runny, sticky and liquescent (and that’s not a word you’ll often see applied to cheese) Mont d’Or or Vacherin Mont d’Or or Vacherin du Haut-Daubs is so French it should be wearing a beret and carrying a baguette. It’s named after Mont d’Or (Golden Mountain) in the Jura region, Franche Comté, department of Doubs.

In France it is revered as the best of the raw milk cheeses and when you taste it for the first time – you’ll understand why.

It was a favourite fromage of King Louis XV and is the only French cheese to be eaten with a spoon. It is only made between August 15 and March 15, and derives its unique nutty taste from the spruce bark in which it is wrapped and only eleven factories in the French Jura region are licensed to produce it. It’s a protected cheese and there’s nothing else quite like it.

If you get a really ripe Mont d’Or you can eat it straight out of the pot – dip in a hunk of fresh baguette and scoop it up, or slather it on with a spoon! Its’ got a delicious nutty, earthy taste.

Or bake it – a really popular way to eat it in France as it brings out even more flavour.

How to bake Mont d’Or Cheese

Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F/Gas 6.

Remove the lid and pop the box on a baking tray.

There are different ways to cook it, plain, with a dash of pepper and/or some sea salt, a drizzle of olive oil, some garlic, truffle shavings, herbs or wine. You can dip bread, croutons, sausage, whatever you like as with a fondue. But, here is one of the most loved recipes for mont d’or chaud, baked Mont d’Or:

Take a knife and poke a few slits in the cheese and pop some thinly sliced garlic in to the holes.

Grind some black pepper over the top, pour over a splash of white wine

Pop in the oven for about 8 minutes until completely soft

Remove and eat with crusty baguette, or new potatoes and wash down with the rest of the white wine!

Extra tips: 

Cut a cross in the top, spread, and pour in some Kirsch, Armagnac, or liqueur of your choice, warm through, and serve with bread sticks.

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Besancon is the capital city of the Franche-Comte district in the East of France that is often named the French Switzerland for its emerald green fields, sloping hills and a variety of local cheese. Many people skip Besancon as it’s not on the traditional tourist route, yet the city is absolutely worth paying a visit for the next five reasons:

Wander around Besancon’s medieval city centre

Originally established in the 1^st century BC by the Romans, there are still a few picturesque remains scattered around town. Most of the houses in the center date back to the middle ages or to the period of the Spanish Renaissance (15^th-16^th Centuries). The center is compact and mainly pedestrian with marvelous cathedrals and palaces. Visit the imposing 16th century Palais Granvelle where a museum of time is currently located; check out the amazing building of Faculty of Medicine and the neoclassical 18^th century Église de la Madeleine cathedral.

Another must-see is Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Besançon with amazing murals and renaissance paintings.  At noon, the amazing astronomical clock in the clock tower of the cathedral will chime. It provides 122 indications including years, seconds, time of the sunset and sunrise and much more. There are 21 animated figures that perform various biblical scenes depending on the time – at noon it’s Resurrection of Christ.

The birthplace of Victor Hugo is located at 140 Grande Rue, you can see a permanent exhibition here, dedicated to the great writer.

Explore the Citadel of Besancon

Dating back to the 18^th century, the Citadel is well-preserved and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s a fine example of military architecture designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban – Louis XIV’s famous engineer; he created around 40 fortification and upgraded more than 300 existing ones in cities around France. Placed on the very top of mount Saint-Etiennet, the Citadel overlooks the Old City Center and offers spectacular views of the nearby villages, mountains and the beautiful curve that the Doubs River makes as it flows around the city.

You can spend the whole day wandering around the ramparts and there’s a pretty little zoo which will please the kids.
Go green and take a bike ride around the picturesque villages

Besancon is lovely to visit in late April or early May. It’s warm already and the flowers bloom with deep rich colors; there is a super convenient bike rental system with over 30 stations spread around the city. The rates are very low and free to use for less than 30 minutes. Get your bike payment card and check the rates at the Tourist office. There are lots of specially designed bike routes in and around the city with easy-to-navigate directions.

Take a ride to the nearby village of Thoirase through the colorful green and yellow fields and sparkling river Doubs about 10 miles from Besancon. Make a stop at the Thoriase Tunnel which is lit up and makes for a very interesting boat ride!

Enjoy delicious white wines of the Jura

Though Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are known all over the world, the local white wines made in Jura region can easily compete with them, the Chardonnays are particularly fine. If you have time to spare, take a trip to Arbois which specialises in white wines. It will take around 40 minutes by car or 20 minutes by train. There are a number of wine caves where you can taste the local specialties before buying. Besides wine, you can buy amazing local cheeses from a farm shop nearby – ideal to go with your wine.

Appreciate the beauty of nature

Spend a day at the utterly beautiful Lac de Chalain that is around 80 km away from Besancon. With a long golden beach and a variety of water sports like diving, windsurfing or fishing, it’s a perfect getaway on a sunny summer day. You can also opt for hiking to get the most spectacular views from the top of the mountains or enjoy a spot of horse riding.

Besancon in video

Elena Prokopets is a twenty-something girl, getting lost in different corners of the world and currently settling as an expat in Besancon, France. Check out her travel blog for more fantastic travel guides around France, expat advice and budget travel tips.

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Franche-Comté is a region predominantly of glorious countryside with miles and miles of tranquil pasture, lakes and woodland. The Jura Mountains stretching along the border with Switzerland and  with the Vosges mountains to the north.

The region originally formed part of Burgundy but 8 centuries ago, the Count of the region refused homage to the German King and successfully broke away renaming the region Franc-Comté meaning “free Count” and the name of the region was born, Franche-Comté meaning “free country”.

It is a region that receives fewer visitors than neighbouring districts and yet it has much to offer holidaymakers who want a laid-back, cultural experience where the air is clear, the food is good and the villages are pretty.

There is plenty of outdoor activity to be found in the area – cycle routes, hiking routes, nature trails and water sports a-plenty for the summer months. The Jura area offers some fantastic opportunities for mountain bikers including route GTJ-VTT which at 300 kms long and incorporating high climbs is not for the faint hearted. For a slightly less arduous challenge the area of Doubs offers a 65km cycle route which doesn’t require so much climbing and takes in some beautiful scenery including waterfalls and grottoes.

In the winter the mountains are guaranteed snow making it a trendy destination for ski-ing – it is the most popular place in France for cross-country ski-ing (ski du fond).

The capital of Franche-Comté is Besancon, a very pretty town, surrounded by hills at the edge of the Jura Mountains. The architecture of blue-grey stone buildings is elegant and attractive and the town is the birthplace of Victor Hugo.

Departments are Doubs [25], Jura [39], Haute-Saone [70] and Territoire de Belfort [90].

Things to do in Franche-Comté

Enjoy the view from the platform on the paw of the famous Lion of Belfort, an 11 metre high statue carved from redstone into the rock-face

Have a meal in the lively town of Besancon and marvel at the Roman remains such as the Porte Noire (2AD) which is partially embedded in local houses.

Camp in the glorious fresh air in the Valley of the Loue and indulge in canoeing or Kayaking on the river Loue.

Take a boat trip on the River Doubs and enjoy the waterfalls at Villers-Le-Lac .

Marvel at the grottoes and caves of the region which is home to many of the oldest and most stunning caves in France including (to name just a few) the Moidons caves with amazing stalactites, the cave at Poudrey with an enchanting sound and light show  in the largest cave in France 70m underground, and Baume-Les-Messieurs with its underground waterfall.

For more information on the region the official Franche-Comté website offers plenty of details.

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