It's about time in Besançon

Clocks and all things related to time keeping are on display at the Musée de Temps
in Besançon.

Victor Hugo's birthplace and an extraordinary museum dedicated to time are some of the highlights of Besançon, the first of two stops on our way home from Strasbourg.

The Doubs River makes a loop around the historical center of Besançon.

In pre-Roman times, Besançon was capital of the area known as Sequania. When Julius Caesar came calling, he called this newly conquered area the jewel in his crown. Today, Besançon is a thriving university town and popular destination due to its well-preserved historical center surrounded by the Doubs River. The city of around 117,000 is the capital of the Bourgogne-French-Comté region.

Porte Noire in Besançon was erected in 175 A.D. in honor of the
emperor Marcus Aurelius. 

Besançon contains several unusual fountains such as this.

The first thing that attracted me to Besançon, was the sheer number of famous people who were born here. In addition to Hugo (1802-1885), literary and cultural native sons include writer Charles Nodier (1780-1844), playwright Jean Mairet (1604-1686), journalist/humorist/lawyer Tristan Bernard (1866-1947) and cinematography pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière (1862–1954) and (1864–1948).

A first edition of Les Misérables is on display at Maison Victor Hugo in Besançon.

Our visit coincides with the first Sunday of the month, and admission to Maison Victor Hugo is free (admission is only 2.50€ on other days). This house is not a traditional museum; it is a contemporary space dedicated to the causes for which Victor Hugo fought: freedom of expression, human dignity, children's rights and the freedom of peoples.

Maison Victor Hugo in Besançon honors the writer's commitment to
freedom and human dignity.

Later in the day, Ken chooses to rest, and I set off on my own to Musée de Temps — a museum dedicated to all things time, including sundials, calendars, clocks and watches.

Besançon's Musée de Temps is located in Palais Granvelle.

Musée de Temps is located in Palais Granvelle, built in the 16th century and one of the first French buildings to be classified as a historical monument. Admission is also free today (normally 5€) and includes a hefty and well-written 40-page guide in English. During my two-hour visit here, I pass through the Salle de la Chiminée (Fireplace Room), Galerie de la Mesure du Temps (Gallery of the Measurement of Time), Cabinet de Curiosités (Curio Den), and Salle de la Tenture (Tapestry Room) before heading upstairs to explore Trois Siécles d'Evolution Horlogére (Three Centuries in the Evolution of Clockmaking). Who knew there was so much to learn about telling time, and who knew that the subject would so successfully hold my attention?

This heliocentric astronomical sphere at the Musée du Temps in Besançon heralds
the future achievements of Antide Janvier, an astronomical clock specialist.

This painting at the Musée du Temps in Besançon contains a real working clock.

Exquisite time pieces such as this are on display at the Musée du Temps in Besançon.

The third floor contains a Foucault Pendulum. I am transfixed as I watch the world turn and am inspired to climb an extra steep staircase to view the pendulum from the tower above. Here I am also treated to views of the Besançon rooftops. When I return to the third floor, I check out the huge relief map of the city.

The pendulum, invented in 1851 by physicist Leon Foucault, illustrates the Earth's
rotation. It oscillates at the Musée du Temps in Besançon. 

Besançon's skyline can be seen from the tower of Palais Granvelle,
which houses the Musée du Temps.

A large 3D map of Besançon can be found at the Musée du Temps.

My solo stroll back to our apartment winds this way and that. I am impressed with how Besançon feels like a real living city, and less like the storybook tourist towns we've recently visited. I pass restaurants, shops and even a bagel joint that assure me that Besançon will be due for a second look on a future road trip.

Saint-Jean's cathedral in Besançon contains two altars. 

Fontaine de l'État-Major stands in Place Jean-Cornet in Besançon. 

Alsatian vineyards, quaint villages and a huge Germanic castle

Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg sits atop Stophanberch mountain in the
Alsace region of France.

We really lucked out weather-wise during our recent visit to the Strasbourg area. Even though we dodged most of the storms, I'm not taking any chances and pick the day with the best forecast for our trip to the Alsace wine country. Our first stop is Colmar, a small storybook city known for its half-timbered homes and Venice-like river.

The Lauch provides the river for 'Little Venice' in Colmar. 

A replica of the Statue of Liberty greets visitors coming to Colmar.
Liberty's sculptor Auguste Bartholdi was born here.

As we approach the city, we are greeted by a replica of the Statue of Liberty in the center of a roundabout. It is only later while exploring Colmar that I realize that this is the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the great symbol of freedom that sits in New York Harbor. (I imagine that Lady Liberty is crying more than a few tears these days.) Bartholdi's childhood home is a museum that contains models and designs for his public monuments, and a reconstructed layout of his Paris apartment.

Colmar-born Auguste Bartholdi created this bronze statute,
Les Grandes Soutiens du Monde, in 1902.

We're amused by the 105 grotesque masks that adorn La Maison des Têtes
in Colmar.

Colmar's Pfister House, built in 1575, was once the home of
bourgeois milliner Louis Scherer who made his fortune in
silver.

Colmar has a large pedestrianized zone that includes the Tanners' and Fishmongers' districts and "Little Venice."  It is a picture-perfect day for our visit, and the colors are dazzling, but there are busloads of tourists too. To keep up our stamina, we take a cheese-covered-soft-pretzel break then take out the guidebook and plan our next stop.

Ken stops to pose on a bridge across the Lauch River in Colmar.

I have a list of three villages that we've been told we "must visit," and we end up stopping only in one. As stunning as these little wine country villages are, by the time we have eaten lunch in Riquewihr, we have nearly overdosed on "quaint."

This colorful timbered café in Riquewihr entices us to stop for a beer.

We have no regrets, however, about spending several hours in Riquewihr, the self-proclaimed "gem of the vineyards." Designated one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, Riquewihr is surrounded with vineyards planted in the Vosges foothills. These grapes have been producing Schoenenbourg and Sporen wines since the Middle Ages.

Riquewihr's Dolder, built in 1291, was town's watchtower
and upper gate.

The timbered buildings in Riquewihr are adorned with intricate carvings.

A walk up Rue du General de Gaulle ends at La Porte Haute (the upper gate). Along the way, we pass dozens of pretty storefronts and restaurants. We take note of the timber frame systems and the trade emblems above the doors.

Trade emblems like this are etched above doorways in Colmar.

Since we started our day early, we've avoided most of the crowds and have plenty of time for our next stop: Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, the most popular attraction in the region.

Originally a Hapsburg property, Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg was given to
France in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles. 

The temperature drops just a few degrees as we approach Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg. This massive pink sandstone castle was built to be a symbol of Germanic power. Abandoned for more than 200 years, the castle was restored in the early 20th century. Today it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Alsace region.

Visitors enter Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg through this gate.
Assailants in the Middle Ages had to pass through the tower
in order to get inside.

The enormous Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg was constructed of pink sandstone
between the 12th and 15th centuries.

Our self-guided tour takes us through the courtyard, which was fortified to cut off intruders. A sink and two fireplaces are still standing in the castle's kitchen. We climb to the second floor, where we find the Lorraine bedchamber in the west wing and connecting rooms in the south wing. Then we head down a spiral staircase to the first floor with its chapel, hunting trophy room and arms room.

Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg has a lot of steps, and we are pretty tired by the time we reach the outer walls. We've enjoyed our day, but we are ready to return to our cozy Strasbourg apartment that has chilled wine and beer in the frige. Next up on Away to Live: two surprising stops on our homeward journey.

If you go

You can find more information about these places on the following websites:
Colmar Alsace Tourisme
Pays de Ribeauvillé & Riquewihr
Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg

Grottes to love about Brantôme

This post originally appeared on the Places & Faces blog for The Local Buzz.

Set along the Dronne river and oozing with charm, some call
Brantôme 'The Venice of Périgord'.

Tourism promoters call Brantôme "The Venice of Périgord," a moniker attributed to French president Raymond Poincaré, who visited the village in 1913. And while I wouldn't go quite that far, this lovely village, 25km north of Périgueux, is one of the most beautiful villages in the region. Having visited this area a few years back in the wintertime, we've set off to Brantôme again on a recent beautiful spring day.

The Dronne river encircles most of the village of Brantôme.

L-shaped Pont Coudé is one of a half-dozen bridges in Brantôme.

We park along the Dronne river, walk through Jardin des Moines and cross Pont Coudé, an unusual L- shaped bridge. Since our earlier visit here was too brief to explore, we have decided to tour the Grottes de l'abbaye today. Tickets are sold at the tourism office located on the corner of Pont Notre-Dame, just across the river from Brantôme's Abbey. Visitors can choose to buy passes for the grottes, the abbey or both. Guided walks along the river, river cruises and canoe rentals are other options in the high season.

Even in the wintertime, Brantôme warrants its Plus Beaux Détour designation.

Signposts (in French and English) along our our self-guided route, explain the millennium of history of the grottes. Hermits first occupied the natural caves in the limestone cliffs in what is now Brantôme. The first Benedictine monks arrived in the 8th century. They excavated the limestone rock and constructed massive chambers adorned with bas relief tributes, along with a fountain dedicated to Saint Sicaire that they believed contained miraculous healing water.

The monks who constructed the Grottes de l'abbaye in Brantôme included
dovecoats as seen above "The Last Judgement bas relief." The monks
sold as fertilizer droppings from the birds who lived in the cave.

A close-up shows detail of "The Last Judgement" bas relief from the 16th century
in the Grottes de l'abbaye in Brantôme. 

The waters of Saint-Sicaire fountain in Brantôme are said
to contain miraculous powers.

Our walk concludes at the monastic building that houses a small museum dedicated to painter and printmaker Fernand Desmoulin (1853-1914).

The view from the grottes in Brantôme look upon a garden and the river beyond.

A water wheel turns at a mill along the Dronne in Brantôme.

We have decided to forego until next time a visit to the abbey itself, which includes a Romanesque bell tower from the 11th century.

A fountain spews forth water in Brantôme.

Several noteworty sites are close to Brantôme, including two castles: Bourdeilles and Jumilhac; Grottes de Villars; and several charming villages including Saint-Jean-de-Côle and La Chappelle-Faucher. But before leaving the village, take advantage of Brantôme's generous assortments of restaurants, or pick up some local delicacies for a riverside picnic.

The village of Saint-Jean-de-Côle, located 20km northeast of Brantôme, is
worth a visit.

I pause to look up an ancient alleyway in Saint-Jean-de-Côle.

This bridge, charming even in the wintertime, is in Saint-Jean-de-Côle,
one of France's Plus Beaux Villages.

Grottes de l'abbaye and Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Brantôme are open to visitors all year round except January.