Medieval fortifications of Belfort - Source of the river Loue - The riverside town of Ornans - 🇫🇷

On Day seven we turn east and head to the fortress town of Belfort. A gap between the mountains of the Jura and the Vosges give an easy route from the Rhine valley to that of the Rhone. To guard this strategic point a hugely powerful fortress was built. In 1648 this area was transferred from Austria to France and Louis XIV set his great military architect, Vauban, to work. In 1870 the fort was besieged during the Franco-Prussian war but held out until three weeks after an armistice was agreed when it was ordered to surrender. Afterwards a great Lion was carved into the cliff wall of the fortress. The Lion of Belfort was created by the same man, Frederic Bartholdi, who sculptured the Statue of Liberty. A highlight of the afternoon was a stop at the Source of the river Loue. At the foot of a towering, 150metre, limestone cliff the Loue bursts into the open falling dramatically down a series of rock steps into a deep green valley. Our night halt today was the pretty riverside town of Ouhans which is prettily sited straddling the river Loue.
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