I have just decided to write this and the following posts 3 months after the hike and try to make up for being such a poor blogger (at least in terms of the frequency of the posts) during the hike. I don't really have many excuses for this delay apart from being so psychologically and physically involved into my trip. I kept cycling along the Marne river until Langres and then for three more days until Besançon. I attached a couple of 7kg luggage bags to my bycicle's back wheel in order to alleviate the pressure on my shoulders and hands. One of the stops I really enjoyed was a countryside place along the Marne north of Chaumont, which was surrounded by a mountain landscape full of green and trees as well as a beautiful lake with colours ranging from blue to light green. It was a great place to unwind, relax, take a few walks in the woods and admire the natural landscape. The approximately 200 km bicycle ride along the Marne went fairly well and quite smoothly until I reached Langres, which is a pretty little town on a hill. It was quite sunny and the road to get to the top of the village was very steep, which forced me to get off my bike at some point and carry it for the rest of the way too the top. The three days of cycling between Langres and Besançon were definitely more challenging as there were quite a few hills to cycle up and down but I managed to safely reach the destination with all of my payload. The main highlight during these last few days of cycling was a very lovely french family who hosted me in their beautiful countryside home. They invited me to have a truly delicious dinner with them as we had very interesting conversations ranging from politics to french lifestyle and places I should definitely visit in France. I was also happy to satisfy their curiosity as they asked me several questions about my trip. In Besançon I met up with my dad and one of his very good old friends who had driven all the way to France from Italy. They helped me disassemble the bike and put it on their car so that I could keep hiking on the way to Switzerland. We spent a couple of lovely days exploring the street and food in Besançon. I also bought a pair professional mountain boots which would turn out to be very useful for the last section of my trip. After having got rid of some weight, my backpack and I were ready once again to take on the last few days of hike to reach the Swiss border.
