AUTUMN AND GROTTES D'OSSELLE

The autumn colours have been superb. The colours are extraordinary and apart from today the weather as well. We think winter arrived today, rain of unusual quantities, however the forecast is good in days ahead.

Autumn on The Doubs

We stopped, sorry moored, at a village called Osselle. Nearby is an amazing cave system full of stalagmites and stalactites. It was about 6km distant, the sun was shining so off we went. We cycled to the 'Grottes' and arrived just in time to miss the tour. The next tour was in an hour at 4.30. We sat in the shade, there are lots of cliffs here and got progressively colder. At ~4.30 we were gathered for the tour underground. Yes it was amazing we walked ~1.5km and saw stunning formations but it was very cold and damp. They have 14km of caves. Fortunately we only saw 1.5km. We then walked the 1.5km back. We came out a couple of hours later it was pitch black and freezing. It had been a superb day the sun had gone down and the temperature had plummeted and we had arrived in far too few clothes. The cycle back was f...... cold. After a couple of stiff whiskies all good.

Margaret next to a stalactite/stalagmite? (Not sure what they are called when they meet and form a column.)

One of the many formations. I'm sure it had a name, well they all did. Don't get me wrong it is amazing, but there are only so many stalactites and stalagmites you can look at in freezing temperatures.