Day 315 – EU – France [Poligny to Cousance]

13/02/21

45km

  From Poligny (France) to Cousance (France)

Europe

Running in negative temperatures across cheese countryside and the story of La Vache Qui Rit

Another stingy start with minus five Celsius and black ice on the road. Lucky that I chose again to run on secondary roads, avoiding the danger spots. The first 20kms were a little complicated. I started out with a 5km uphill from Poligny that was quite a brutal way to warm up! Then I got to run on some forest and rocky trails that were another challenge for BoB the stroller. But I like the variety and the surroundings were absolutely splendid. Vineyards and little villages…

Around halfway through, I passed by the Museum of “La Vache Qui Rit” (which unfortunately and due to Covid 19 was closed). This was one of the first industrial cheeses,made from melting some of the local famous cheeses, during the 1st World War. Wikipedia will inform you better than I do and there is quite a story about it! Anyhow, the factory is still in Dole (where I was two days ago) and Lons-Le-Saunier (which I ran through today). I also ran past the town of Beaufort, another well known cheese! What a culinary rich region to run through… it’s a pity that restaurants are closed at the moment, really!

I stay today in the little town of Cousance. Not much to say about the place, it’s really halfway through between Lons-Le-Saunier and Bourg-en-Bresse, which I will reach tomorrow. I am still working on the ergonomic adaptation of my handlebar. I am no longer experiencing painful fingers whilst running, but they are still stiff and painful every morning. It needs more work, obviously and I will use my next rest day trying to see what can be altered.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: