After a sunny walk down some lanes and through a forest, courtesy of maps.me, we continued our journey. Our first visit of the day was the source of the River Loue, only a few kilometres away.

Another advantage of the free offline maps.me app is that it enables you to estimate the distance from the carpark to the attraction. You can even get it to route you there by foot and tell you how many minutes it will take. This is essential when visiting somewhere with someone like Sophie, who is never keen on a walk that might be too open-ended for their liking. However, it doesn’t allow for gradient, and so if heading downhill, the return journey will naturally take a little longer.

Anyway, it was a very modest stroll down to the source, and as we passed the cafe en route, I was surprised that our reluctant researcher already knew in advance some of the key elements of the menu and what dishes reviewers had recommended. It would seem that we’d be paying a visit on our return.

Having been so impressed with the source of the Lizon yesterday, we’d assumed, for no obvious reason, that this would be a let down, but were keen to get some exercise anyway. As it turned out we guessed wrong, and the source of the Loue was impressive, and definitely worth the steep, but thankfully very short, slog back afterwards. On our way back uphill we passed a small, mean looking, group of French commando types, although they were surprisingly friendly. Even so, you wouldn’t want to meet them in the jungle under different circumstances.

So, smoked ham and chips was next on the agenda, washed down by a small carafe of the house Cotes de Rhône. Actually, this turned out to be one of our favourite meals out.

Château de Joux was our next stop, just beyond Pontarlier, and what great views from here. You can even overnight there in a motorhome, but we were carrying on that day. Next, I checked out a “wild-card” Park4night very close to the Swiss border. It had all the usual free motorhome facilities, and beautiful views of hills, perfectly manicured green meadows, pine forest, and cows, but the nearby roads, although not major, seemed too busy to risk. So, after topping up and tipping out, our quest continued.

The drive that evening, heading Southwest in the Jura region, was stunning, with more of those perfect undulating hills, with the forests beyond, all bathed in the beautiful evening sun.

Our spot for the night, thanks to Park4night, turned out to be in the lovely rural parking area for a waterfall and gorge, in the little village of Les Planches en Montagne. We only had one neighbour and the prospect of a very peaceful night.

*** Just to mention that our blogs can be up to a few weeks behind reality, as we’re always in catch-up mode ***