Tag 8, Saint Hippolyte bis Bois de la Biche (43 km)
Heute, am letzten Tag ist nun endlich die Marathonstrecke geknackt. Dabei war das gar keine Absicht, aber die Streckenangaben im Buch stimmen hinten und vorne nicht. So steht im Buch z.B ."Bois de la Biche, 1.5 km offroute". In Wirklichkeit  waren es aber 3 km. Und so läppern sich die extra Kilometer. Aber genug gejammert - heute war nochmal ein phantastischer Tag, wenn sich auch der Wetterwechsel bemerkbar machte. Es war teilweise drückend schwül und jetzt hat es gerade angefangen zu gewittern. Morgen regnet es. Ich werde also nur noch zur Bushaltestelle laufen (die aber sich 8 km entfernt ist).
Wie gesagt der letzte Tag hat sich von einer Traumseite gezeigt. Besonders schön war der Abschnitt entlang des Doues. Der Weg geht entlang der Steilseite des Grenzflusses zwischen der Schweiz und Frankreich entlang. Immerwieder klettert man über die weissen Kalksteine, untern glitzert der grüne Doue. Wunderschön.

This morning it was the first time on my hike that I met another GR5 hiker. Anton, from the Netherlands (of course) is doing the whole thing from Hoek van Holland to Nice. He started 7 years ago and each year he is walking 1 week in spring and 1 week in autumn.
The cultural feature of the day are was the washing area at Courtefontaine. Like the belltower roofs, the area of Franche-Conté is known for its washing areas (Lavoirs) that are located in the centre of each village and derive of a time, where people had to wash themselfs together  in public (18th -19th century). Usually thos baths they quite simple with some basins aroubd a fountain and sometimes a roof. But this one was more like a greek temple. So, apparently people used to like their washing place here.

And now, for the friends of my weird cow stories- I have a new one: Most cows are usually quite relaxed about me and the other way around. They are eating grass and ignore me. Today, the pass went over a pasture, where in a distance of about 20 m some cows were exactly doing that. So, unworried, I climbed over the stele and followed the path, when suddenly a cow (or young bull) from the peaceful group was running (!) towards me mooing like crazy. Very quickly I was back on the other site of the fence and decided to make a detour along the street. After all, the cow is more heavy than I am. The cow/bull followed me mooing loud for a while, luckily there was a fence.

So, a rough calculation gives 260 km total during the 8 days walking. Let's see what comes next year. Looking forward to moving on on the E2.

Aurevoir and thanks for all your supporting comments (on blog or WhatsApp)!