We have now moved on to Besançon awaiting Le Tour stage 11 tomorrow. We arrived last night via train which reached speeds of 320 km per hour yet ran so smoothly it didn't feel like we were moving. The whole of the old centre of Besançon is a delightful urban environment that has survived more or less intact against the onslaughts of modernisation the old streets are lined with houses and buildings from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century, built in the local two-coloured limestone, of off white & duck egg blue. These buildings are just beautiful with large gated doorways, steep tiled and slated roofs and turreted spires and dormer windows. From the 1st century BC through the modern era, the town had a significant military importance because the Alps rise abruptly to its immediate south and the town is located within a loop of the Doubs river presenting a significant natural barrier against hostile invasion. The city remains relatively undiscovered by tourists but for not much longer once it's beauty & charm is shared with the many millions of Tour de France viewers.