Besançon

We chose Besançon as a segue point in our visit to France. It's a town known to Julius Caesar and fought over many times since. Our hotel is a former convent half way up one of its hills. The river Doubs encircles the old town, and a steep climb behind the hotel is the UNESCO World Heritage "Citadel". It seems that in the second half of the 17th century some King of Burgundy bequeathed the area to Spain and France had to get it back by a long siege.    

That accomplished, the French King's military adviser set about constructing the citadel to ensure the town could be held against countermoves. The picture above, taken during our climb, includes one of the lower bastions.

 

     

View of the town from the ramparts        

A fellow climber encountered during our ascent

         

Again          On the heights one of the major exhibits was a curation titled Museum of the French Resistance ( to the Nazis). In 20 rooms it was both more and less than that: it majored on suppression and deportation French Jews and their fate with many graphic photos and memorabilia from that time. For example, we had not previously seen items of Nazi uniforms and paraphernalia, nor  bullet studded execution posts. It took us a couple of hours to work our way through these rooms. Another curation of odd items of machinery like early personal computers and portable phones was easier to cope with. Finally, the citadel housed an eclectic group of animals- baboons and black sheep.    

 

Inside the Citadel,seen from the Queen's Tower