Run for the hills

This morning I was determined to go on a long run. I slept in a bit and then headed out. It was raining pretty steadily at about 38 degrees so I wore my wool hat, gloves and a long sleeve technical shirt (and nylon shorts, my legs are never cold)...

The constant mistiness on top of the hill (true to life) obscures an amazing view of Centre Ville Besancon - I love to see the city from different vantage points. This run marks the completion of the trifecta I have been wanting to conquer. It is the last of the three Vaubon hills. (i.e. hills that the famous architect Vaubon, built stuff on - the other two were the Citadelle (of course) and that other one I blogged about, when Griffin was with me - oh yeah, Chaudonne) and I have been looking foward to climbing up there.

Here is Fort Bregille in the misty rain. You can't get inside like you can with the Citadelle but as I went on I arrived at Fort Beauregarde (not, unfortunately, made by Vaubon so not as famous). It is located on the same mountain and created to protect Fort Bregille, which was created to protect the Citadelle, which was created to protect the people of Besancon (initially).... but later was part of the protection of the grand country of France. All of these are now reduced to misty ruins or (if really famous) a museum/zoo - what would Vaubon think of that? I got to walk around inside Fort Beauregarde and go down this awesome long staircase to get back to the river Doubs...

Despite my gear, by the time I arrived home I was cold (see, I do get cold!), and quite wet:
It was cool to see that while I was gone, forts were being built right in my own living room.









In the afternoon, we had Olivier's car again and a babysitter, so we went to finish our shopping for noel. We mostly bought from the mall outside of town, but finished downtown for a couple items and for some food from some of the holiday vendors (potatoes, a waffle, and a sandwich, all made in the Franche-Comté style). The city is beautiful at night.....