Reflections in the river Doubs, in Dole.

I was woken this morning by the bells tolling 7 o’clock but slept again and eventually got up about 8:30. We’ve noticed on this trip that we sleep well and long in ‘Arry the camper van.
As we’ve travelled in France, Spain and Portugal there have been bells in nearly every town we’ve slept in. They are silenced in the night but around 7 they start chiming. Almost unconsciously you notice the time, divided into 15 minute increments. A memory of a time gone by, when a minute here or there made no difference. I write “a time gone by” but for us van life people it works fine to measure time by quarter hours.
This morning we headed into town, where I took this blip of the church and reflection in the Doubs river. We eventually found an artisan baker who could serve us a croissant and coffee for breakfast. 30 years ago there were many cafes doing that but in modern France, away from the obvious tourist areas it seems to be a rarity.
Anyway, after our breakfast coffee we wandered back to the camper and set off for Germany.
There was so much beautiful rolling countryside. We roared through but in another life it would be fun to drift through this countryside, savouring the beauty, village by village.
Almost symbolically, as we entered Germany we encountered our first traffic jam. I remember Germany as a place where motorways are crammed with traffic and the radio reports “stop und go”. But it was a short jam and soon we were hurtling along the autobahns. It’s an interesting experience to be doing 120 kms an hour and to feel the camper shaken by the wind of a BMW overtaking at 150+ kmh!
As darkness fell Jan found a spot to stop in for the night. A parking dedicated to camper vans, with a Lidl, and an Aldi next door.
We are doing our final shopping before getting back to Sweden and it’s surprising, or perhaps not, how much alcoholic beverages feature on our list!