Hotel Regina Besançon

... houses a zoo, aquarium, and several museums.

We just ventured to Lausanne and Montreux on Lake Geneva. HUGE Lake! Chateau de Chillon is the best castle in Switzerland…so the Swiss say. It is very interesting. As they build it on a mountain of rock right in the lake. Lord Byron , English poet , wrote the Prisoner of Chillon which ...

... a massive fortress at the top of the hill of course. It now houses various concerns including a zoo with wallabies. We looked at the history of the citadel..all about war/defence and also a history of the resistance in France in WW2. That was one of the most sobering and comprehensive collections either of us have ever seen and we have been talking about it since.
After that we headed up to Kayserburg another beautiful village but more ...

... to get there. Ed just randomly drove and I watched street signs and next thing you knew, I saw we were on the right street and our hotel was right there. We were glad it turned out to be so easy! We found a place to park and checked in. Well, sort of checked in. We went inside and saw a large group at the check in desk and thought we'd have a long wait. Then, I saw a group of envelopes taped to the doorway and my name was on one of them. So I ...

... shrug. The other side does avoid major roads and is a vast improvement. To cap the slowness issue I'm then caught by the swiss girl who also stayed at Grein. She made the same choices re the side to ride on; as she put it "you never go back". As our riding paces are fairly compatible and we deal with path issues amicably its nice to have someone to ride with. Also my pace picks up a bit and riding into the wind is a bit easier when ...

... as I'm in a major town and its possible but its replacement looks less warm and cost almost three times as much. After that I went for a ride round the city's riversides which were full of people sunbathing. Also on one island people were having barbecues etc and it had a very nice relaxed feeling. So I got off and hung out for a bit. Then back to the supermarket for supper then another kip and finally to blog. Quest for wireless didn't happen so no photo's uploaded. The ...

... Overall its quite similar although the beer garden now concentrates on expensive food. The monument is as it was. I also spent £2 on a fab ice cream here reasoning that I needed the sugar and fat. It was lush. Kelheim also had a net cafe but I didn't really have time. >From here to Regensberg was bank holiday city with lots of people out fishing. As we got close to Regensberg the number of cyclists increased to dominate any roads we were routed ...

... in the German outskirts which are listed under Germany. Unfortunatly the canal route is rather short on accommodation; campsites are closed and hostels are well off route. Not sure what to do at this stage; the weather makes indoor accommodation very appealing. Sadly staying here longer doesn't really get round the problem either (although I'm sorely tempted). As it is I've been on the net for much of the afternoon in a very satisfactory manner!

... town from the cholera epidemic of 1854. (Probably the first and last time H will ever do the stations of the cross) Obviously people in France loved building religious edifices high up on top of big rocks. I told you about Le Puy and Mont St Michel didn't I? Then there are the numerous chateaux which always seem to be built on the highest spot like at Angers and Chaumont sur Loire. Still they all pale into insignificance next to the enormous Strasbourg Cathedral ...

... many French artists were born or came from Besancon, and the area had been somewhat known for art...I noticed that the artists of Besancon and this region primarily painted with oils, and they favored landscapes. But this musuem also had art from other parts of France, Italy, basically from other parts of Europe as well as an Ancient Greek, Roman and Egypt exhibit, which had actual mummies on display....very cool indeed. After my very long ...

... a local too crowded bar! November 9 Back on the road we started early but it took us hours to get out of Besancon... but when a nice guy managed to pick us of this hole place we reach in no time Dole then Chalon and then the highway to Lyon on a reast area... there I noticed a dutch car and I went to ask for a ride practicing my dutch and we got a ride all ...