Day 37 – to Saint-Hippolyte, Doubs, France

Heavy rain all day today, and I chose to get a soaking early in the day, heading from the overnight stop at the waterfall up the track, the reverse of what I had done on first arriving here a couple of days ago. But the rain grew heavier and as we entered the cloud, I decided 90 minutes was enough, and returned to the van to dry out.

Though it has been wet, and snowy occasionally, this was the wettest day so far, in that conditions didn’t relent. A good day to drive therefore, so the van meandered its steady way around Bern and into Swiss Jura. I was headed for France. 8 days in Switzerland has been fine, but it is expensive, particularly at the moment with the war on. I was keen for a Belgian beer, in a French bar, and even to eat out.

The Swiss Jura was very appealing, but I held true to my aim, and crossed the Doubs river at the split town of Goumois, which has a Swiss and a French part, separated by the river. The Doubs valley here is steep-sided, a big descent into Goumois, and a big climb out of it. And a lot of rain in it.

My destination was Saint-Hippolyte, a reasonable sized town with a very appealing bar and restaurant on the river Doubs, and a place alongside the river for ‘camping-cars’. Though the bar had no Belgian beer, the Pelforth black was good, as was the Affligem. Dinner overlooking the river in a restaurant that in season would be packed, tonight just me, the dog, and a couple of young guys working in IT staying over. Very friendly staff and locals also.