Montbéliard

Today we followed the course of  le Doubs  further upstream this morning to Montbéliard. We can see why this area is particularly popular with cyclists with a cycle track running the full extent of the river. In fact, the guy in the tourist office said, you can cycle right from the Baltic through to the centre of France on the Eurovelo 6 cycle track. 

A varied day again! A visit to the supermarket, followed by a wander around the Saturday morning market in Montbéliard,  before settling down for the afternoon next to the marina on le Doubs. 

This afternoon we visited the  beautiful le parc du Prés la Rose, just a little way along the river, to cool off and to enjoy the local festivities in the park. 

We noticed a lot of children, with their parents, dressed in what looked like tradition Dutch clothing. It turned out that they were children from a local Lutherian school performing very traditional songs sung in the language of the region, “old French”, as it was explained to us. 

This part Franche-Comté was once of the territory of the Dukes of  Württemberg, German dukes, who introduced the  Lutherian church to Montbéliard. 

Following this presentation was a performance by a group of men with their alpenhorns. An appreciative crowd had gathered to listen to the music, perhaps many being proud parents. 

Moules en vin (mussels in white wine) for supper tonight! Delicious!