After our brief stint on the Nivernais, we returned to Auxerre. As you would have seen in earlier chapters, it’s a beautiful city. But we had to leave. By train, not on Aleau.
I had an appointment in Dole. We had been there many times. It’s less than a half-hour by car from Auxonne – which was Aleau’s home port during our first three years in France.
Dole had not lost any of its charm since we were last there. The fellow relaxing on the chair in the photo below is real. The building behind him is real. The entrance on the left is real. But nothing else is. Amazing what you can do to a building with a bit of paint.
It was lunch time when we got off the train from Auxerre. We stopped at the first restaurant we saw – Aux Cinq Sens. We hadn’t made reservations – a risky thing in France – even for lunch in the middle of the week.
We were able to get the last table for two – even if it was right in the middle of the entrance.
The food more than made up for the awkward seating position.
It was off to my appointment – and then a leisurely stroll through Dole.
Dole sits alongside the Canal du Rhône au Rhin – which was built wherever the Doubs River was too shallow for boats. (Exactly like the Canal de Nivernais and the Yonne River, boats alternate between the canal and the river.) A tiny tributary of the Doubs – the Canal des Tanneurs – flows into the heart of Dole.
The entire canal is lined with restaurants.
We chose one at the other end of the canal – sitting under the awning and overlooking the lilipads.
Naturally, we started with Crémant. Since we had crossed from Burgundy to Jura, we had Crémant de Jura. (On a trip to another region we had Crémant d’Alsace. We’ll see if we can try Crémant from every region.)
After a long dinner and a restful night in a hotel overlooking the Doubs, we took the train back to Auxerre.