Barges Victoria and CARIB II were away early, before we even got out of bed. Around noon, we went down to the Capitainerie Office at the Old Port, with the manual locks, to use their washing machine to do a big load of laundry.

We then belatedly headed up the hill to visit the Citadel. It was a fair climb up the hill but we refrained from taking the bus, in favour of getting some exercise. On the way, we walked through the old part of the city we had covered yesterday, which is essentially confined within the bend in the river. The relationship between the old city and the river reminded us of Cahors and Bern.

As we crossed between the old city and the area of the Citadel, we dropped into the Cathedrale Saint-Jean, and had a quick look at the Astrological Clock (since Besançon is a city famous for clock-making). As always, the richness of the church buildings is staggering, making one realise the strong role that religion played in bygone times.

When we got to the top of the hill, we were amazed at the size and pristine condition of the Citadel. It has survived the centuries well, and recent restorations have kept it looking good.

As we entered the front gates over the bridge crossing the old moat, we suspected a zoological aspect of the Citadel, when we saw a baboon in the grassed area at the bottom of the moat area.

After we paid our entrance fee, we entered the Citadel proper (there is a free area before this which is also impressive and great for the locals to come to for a family picnic without having to pay). Here we were surrounded by immaculately preserved buildings of the old Citadel (which we also learned were used by the German forces during the occupation in WW2). The photo below shows a WW2 war memorial at left, and a deep well in the centre (boys were dropping stones into it when I was there, which testified to the depth of the well at over 50 metres through solid rock - if tourists keep doing this, the well will be filled with stones in a few decades time!). At the right is an old chapel, which is now fitted out as a multi-media centre, showing a 15.minute history of the Citadel, which we enjoyed. This central area of the Citadel is also surrounded by long stone buildings (formerly barracks for the troops) which now house several different museums, including one about the WW2 occupation. Because we only came up here this afternoon, we had not allowed enough time to explore everything, so we decided to give the museums a miss for today, and just gain an overview of the whole place (with a view to coming back again later).

We thought the best place to gain an overview would be from the walkways along the parapet walls surrounding the Citadel. So we found an entrance to the eastern wall and ascended. And we were in for a surprise immediately, when we saw a sign talking about Red Kangaroos, and then saw two lazing below us in an enclosure - the zoo was more comprehensive than we thought!

We then walked along the eastern wall to a lookout sentry station which gave great views of the old city and east of the Citadel. Our mooring was just visible to the right of the Music Conservatorium in the centre of the second photo. "New" Besançon is on the other side of the river, to the north of the old city.

At the southern end of the old city, we walked through an old Roman gateway, which was erected around 175 AD in honour of emporer Marcus Aurelius, and which predates all the surrounding buildings. It is one of the oldest structures I have seen up close, and the deterioration in the stonework is testament to its age. The statue at right below was hidden behind the left of the archway.

But despite the machine saying it was a quick wash and would only take 50 minutes, it took over 2 hours. In the meantime, we had gone for a long walk trying to find a Credit Agricole bank, only to find it closed, and then returned to a bank near the capitainerie to withdraw some cash. We decided not to do a second load of laundry, and returned to the barge to hang the laundry on the rear deck. On the way back to the barge, we were passed by a Besançon tram, which made us feel like we were back home on Melbourne.

We then walked back down stairs into the Citadel, and crossed to the other side to walk along the western wall, before we got chucked out, as closing time was approaching for the day. We were glad we did this, as the views from this wall were even more spectacular, showing the Doubs where we had approached the city yesterday, and also giving good views of the western wall itself. The view to the south-west showed where we had come along the Doubs, and the mountainous nature of the Doubs surroundings.

The view to the north-west showed the Doubs curving around Besançon to the left, the waiting area for the tunnel lock in the centre, and part of the western wall on the right.

The nature of the western wall itself is well-captured in this photo.

As we walked along the wall, we couldn't resist getting this "touristy" photo of Rita in one of the lookout towers.

We were one of the last couples to leave the Citadel today, even though we'd seen nothing of the inside of the museums, and very little of the extensive zoo and gardens. Well worth another visit in the future.

As we walked down the hill back to the old city, I heard that Australia had won the 1st Ashes Test, after England's batting had collapsed in their second innings. So, England can keep their Barmy Army and their booing, and we'll keep Steve Smith!

When we got back to the old city, we stopped for a drink at Madigan's Pub, and then decided to have dinner out when we spied Le Iguana restaurant hidden beside the carousel on the other side of the road. A pleasant way to end the day.