A very lovely old town, great/consistent architecture wrapped into a bend in the Doubs river. Victor Hugo’s birthplace. Julius Caesar visited. The town itself deserves a good wander, and has grand churches plus authentic Roman ruins. The **Musée des Beaux-Arts is small but impressive, with a quite diverse collection. Nothing show-stopping, but everything is better than average.

If you only do one thing, visit the ***Citadel – considered Vauban’s masterpiece, in remarkable condition. Sitting atop the town, with sweeping views, it’s a Unesco world heritage site extremely impressive for the structure itself – but they’ve made it into a zoo! Literally. Who doesn’t love monkeys in moats? There are a lot of lemurs, birds, and a few larger cats.

Food and Lodging

• *Hôtel De Paris 33 Rue des Granges. These rooms are fine and central, but stay somewhere else. Service was awful.
• **La Clocherade is decent, outdoor seating with a fairly broad French menu. Not remarkable, but service is friendly and the burgers were good.
• [didn’t make it] Le Poker d’As Restaurant: highly recommended
• ***Rotisserie Vauban: really good, specializes in chicken and grilled meats. [now closed]