Gy to Sains des Bains: 71.7km, 748m ascent
Today was one of contrasts. We departed Gy, in the Haute Saône and had to stay on small roads as there are no cycle tracks. This took us past ‘potty’ villages and the lovely 15th century village of Marnay. The buildings are beautiful and the central square was alive with house martins swooping overhead.
After the cold front and rain at the start of our trip, France is now in a heatwave with 33° forecast for this afternoon. Despite an early start we were boiling by 10 am, with open fields, little shade and heat reflecting up from the tarmac. We left the quiet and underpopulated regions of the Grand Est and Bourgougne-Franche-Comté and headed into the Jura. Here, near Besançon and Dôle, the roads are busier, the villages more affluent and there are even a few cafés and boulangeries to keep us happy.
By late morning we were back on cycle paths again, one of which, Eurovelo 6, takes a lovely route by the Doubs river and through beautiful forest – wonderfully cooling in the heat. The highlight of today was having a red kite circling overhead, sweeping lower and lower, and then swooping into the field right beside me to snatch up its prey.
Now we are in a much more touristed where we stopped briefly at Saline Royale, a beautful monument built in the 1770s. We have just arrived in Salins-les-Bains, a beautiful spa town, so are off to explore and perhaps sample some of the Jura wines.