travel Text: Trang Ami
To French people, Besançon evokes a
feeling of coldness and strangeness.
However, for me who considers the
city home. Besançon is where I have
unforgettable beautiful memories
despite the most severe weather I have
experienced in my life.
I
WHERE COLDNESS IS A
KIND OF “SPECIALTY”
n a local class of
public relations and
communication, the PR
manager of Besançon
said that we could
assign any place with
a distinct word to represent it.
For example, “nuoc mam” (fish
sauce) would represent Vietnam.
Then class members talked about
Besançon, and decided “cold”
was its word!
On January 1st, 2015, Mouth
Village (in the same Doubs
region with Besançon) had to
endure the lowest recorded
temperature in France, with a
temperature of -41.2oC. Since
that time, the village has been
considered the “Little Siberia”
of France. Besançon is not as
cold as this village, but I have
experienced harsh winters
when I found myself walking
in snow up to my knees while
buses were not able to run. In
Besançon, people prefer days
with a negative temperature to
snowy days because snow does
not fall when the temperature
is lower than zero.
The more cold days I’ve
experienced here, the more I
love the days when the entire
city does laundry and drying
96
TRAVELLIVE
together. It’s also the time when
people hurry to go for a picnic on
any green space.
This city is the convergence of
all Mother Nature’s beauties.
Its beauty is a blend of
plateaus, waterfalls, rivers and
forests. Mysterious forests are
everywhere in Besançon. The
city also boasts its two famed
mountains on the border and
in the Franche-Comtä region,
namely Jura and Vosges. In
winter, mountains covered by
snow offer locals a great deal of
benefit. When the season comes,
ski lovers and hikers gather
here to enjoy their holiday with
winter sports, many of them are
from Austria, the Netherlands
and Central European countries
which are far away from
Besançon.
The Jura mountains have more
to offer. Forests there provide
a huge amount of wood for
wooden toy manufacturing - the
industry has developed since
the 13th century. Perhaps it’s
also the reason why you can
easily find a wooden house for
a Santa Claus set in the most
prominent place of any annual
Noel market. Cartoon characters
and things made from wood are
skillfully used for the house’s
däcor. Christmas or “Noel” is my
favorite time, living in this east
mountain area.
THE CITY OF HIDDEN
BEAUTY
I can confidently say that I have
walked every street in the center
and I don’t need any map to
find the quickest way through
the narrow alleys. To explore
the local architecture, firstly
you need to contemplate the
fronts of buildings made from
Chailluz stone. This kind of stone
is harvested from the Forest of
Chailluz and features two main
colors: blue and grey. Buildings
made with this stone appear to
change color with the weather,
which provides an interesting
and unique facade.
The attractiveness lies in hidden
yards behind large gates where
you can see some charming
outdoor staircases leaning against
beautiful walls covered by plants