Sometimes life takes you in funny directions and last night it took us backwards, out of the town in Montbeliard and back along the canal to a small village, where a local family kindly put us up for the night. A local journalist Gerard and his wife Emmanuelle along with their children, Valentine and Florentin, were fantastic hosts. We were wined and dined on Gerard`s homemade quiche, crepes and a good Bordeaux wine for supper. After a good night`s rest, Gerard took us around the fortress of Belfort the next morning, before dropping us back on the canal around lunchtime to resume our journey. It was 12km before we reached the spot on the canal where we had left off the day before, and a steady rain accompanied us the whole way. We carried on for another couple hours, by which time there were puddles in our shoes and our hands were starting to wrinkle from the rain. Thank goodness for Goretex clothing as it kept the rest of our bodies dry and warm. Cycling with wet feet is no fun though, and we were starting to lose light because of the clouds, so we stopped to dry out in the town of Isle sur Doubs. Hotel choices aren`t great in this town, so we`ve ended up in a slightly dodgy, albeit cheap, spot where the mattress sinks at least two feet in the middle when you sit on it. At least it`s drier than the tent!