7/17 Belfort

Partly cloudy warm and breezy was the days weather. After an average breakfast at the hotel we walked up town for errands and then to play tourist. I wanted to find the local tourist office - always your best shot to become organized, get maps, lodging info etc. Usually it's in the city center so we headed there but it was nowhere to to be found. Some traffic signs alluded to it but the city seems to enjoy one way streets and that wasn't helpful. Using my pseudo French I managed to figure out there was a bank near it and a general direction. But we spotted a posted city map and finally pinned it down. It is up on a busy street,about a km north of town center, adjacent to the bank of Spain. Inside I found the map perfect for the Jura - IGN 137 Green at 1:100,000 seems to cover the upcoming week and a half of the Jura. With a local tour map as well we had one more destination - the Post to send home a stack of maps. The tourist map showed it - sort of. And so another frustrating half hour of walking and area peering up and down streets for the distinctive  Post logo. Probably this is the most aggravating part of this kind of day to day travel - entering a town - then being unable to find a place or due to holiday / Sunday or midday finding everything closed. We found the Post in a building recessed from the street so you can't see the sign just looking down the street. Mission accomplished we headed for the old city and citadel. The old city was just that- very interesting picturesque buildings and monuments set beneath the fortress of massive walls while the citadel looms above. The maroon Vosiegn sandstone, so familiar now, is the building material for the cathedral and Citadel. Belfort was Austrian till it was signed over to France in the treaty of Westphalia in the 1600s. The famous fort builder Vaubain then improved this massive fortress. In the 1870-1 war it held against Prussian assault and had to be ordered to surrender by the French government in the settlement. As a result it remained French as did not go to Germany as the Alsace / Lorraine did. The Lion of Belfort was carved of the matron sandstone to commemorate the successful defense of Belfort and it sits impressively beneath the Citadel. The sculptor Bertholdi gave the US the Statue of Liberty. The fortress was massive and the views sweeping from the top. We had a nice salad lunch in the Citadel restaurant. We spent time in the museum which informational displays on the fortress history. The upper floor is military and weapons and uniforms of French and German soldiers of the different periods if well organized and displayed. Some things were amazing such as a rampart rife at least 10 feet long. In a display of the fireman outfits there were old shiny breathing helmets  which are identical to C3P0's head in the Stars Wars movie!
We finished with a visit to the Lion which was impressive but more so at a distance. Back at the hotel I discovered a shopping complex a few blocks away with a huge grocery and miscellaneous shopping store. Supplies bought I went to a great Buffett restaurant - Crescent- with a wonderful well priced selection and volume of food. Movie complex across the street. Wish I had known this entering town!