Day 22 Besançon to Ornans

• Day 22
• Saturday, 9 September 2023
• Besançon to Ornans 
• 512 km to September 2018
•   32 km today 
• 544 km on the Via Francigena  (32 km for 2023)

Like Langres and Belfort,  the hotel at Besançon provides a comprehensive, but not cooked, breakfast.  I dine like a king and set off before 07h.

Having walked through the town the afternoon before,  I take the opportunity to walk around down river side of the oxbow shape surrounding the city centre. 

And then to climb up to the chapel and WW2 memorial at the top.

I don't know why local route planned find the most difficult paths to have us walk.

But they do.

The designated path starts off steep and then becomes almost vertical, followed by about 60 steps that don't have much space for a foot and with out a handrail.  To keep my pack from pulling me back, should I mis-step, I feel compelled to climb up on all fours.  The final hurdle is moving on to the road which itself is at quite a steep angle.  Fortunately a passing cyclist pauses to render assistance. 

I make the Francican chapel and pause to say the morning office.  Then onto the WW2 liberation memorial for 8 September 1944.  There was a celebration the day before in central Besançon 

Then down the other side along a Ridgeline with bush either side - quite lovely to be amongst but he path itself left a lot to be desired..

On reaching "civilization" there is a 40 minute walk to a turning point and back to a path just a few hundred metres to my right.  A local uses his knowledge to have me avoid a long walk in the open with heat build-up.

The saving is rewarded by a walk through a green belt and to the western side of the village of Saone.  And the route markings are goog, until I miss one.  I am only 1 km of course!  And the heat is not helpful. As I get ready to turn around I see a car coming from the "wong direction" and put out my thumb. He stops and I ask hopefully for Mamirolle, my intended lunch stop.  My pack and poles go in the trailer and off we set.

But not to Mamirolle. 

First to a building site and his mother-in-law and then to his own home for an impromptu lunch he cooks.  We exchange life histories using a translation app on our phones. I meet his wife, four sons and their wife's.  After several hours we are off, not to Mamirolle but to Ornans.

I have eaten and drunk well.  So stay in the Tourist Office - the camping ground is a good option and is beside the route to Rome.  My first night on the way is in my tent!  It has been a long, but enjoyable day.  I finish with a beer from the camping ground restaurant. Here I decide my next stop is Pontarlier and make a booking for the cheapest hotel on the edge of the town.

And so to bed.