Another long day with a slightly delayed start due to a real shower. So wasn't off before 11 am, and kept an easy pace - first to Gray and a stop for lunch, and then to Vesoul refilling energy (it's amazing how few villages have a bakery easily visible from the main street).
After Vesoul, I disbanded my original route in favor for the one route that had "Belfort" as destination. Hence, I ended up riding a national road with heavy traffic. And for some strange reason, at least it felt like I was going faster - I certainly burned more energy. But it kept working like that all the way to the Hostel in Belfort, and I arrived with these results: 168 kilometres after six hours and 44 minutes of bicycling.
On the way, I must have passed through a beef-region - the village with the "moods"-cow had numerous other cow-statues, with plenty of live versions on the fields by the road.
The terrain has been very much like it is at home in Norway: hilly.
When it comes to Belfort, this is the second time I stop here to sleep on a bicycling-trip - the first was when I left Strasbourg four years ago, heading for Barcelona. However, tomorrow's stage to Strasbourg will not be the reverse version, because I've planned to stop by a place called Neuf Brisach, placing me at the eastern part of Alsace (I came down in the western part four years ago).
Time to sleep - hopefully without rolling thunder like last night...
Update: Belfort must be the most quiet city in France these days. Even finding an open restaurant was difficult last night, and there were barely any people in the streets. But then, this is vacation time here in France. The city itself appears pretty big, with large old buildings and wide streets. But the funniest observation I did is the balconies - they are everywhere, nicely painted and in large numbers (how many balconies can you possibly put onto a facade? You'll find the answer here...)
