I recently visited this really interesting city. Raymond Blanc and Victor Hugo both born there - great food, loads of cheese, fab undercover market, interesting architecture, Roman Citadelle…
I wrote a post on my blog - hope you like it!
A Weekend in Besancon
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looks fantastic - I liked the vaulted ceiling in the leffe cafe. Incidentally do you know why the Roman gate is called the black gate? There is one in Trier in Germany which is actually black and has the same title but Besancon’s one is white?
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It was a great weekend, I had no idea this city was so interesting. I’d love to be able to tell you why it is called the black gate but I don’t know. I see from older photos it was much darker and it used to be covered in murals but I think it has been cleaned and renovated in recent years. It is very intact for something so old!
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There is a 29 page pdf which explains the long history of La Porte Noire… absolutely fascinating… this is the only link:
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Wow! that is amazing Stella - what a great find - I should try to link this pdf to my blog post!
Thank you
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Errrr, Raymond Blanc wasn’t born in Besançon.
He goes on and on about being from a small village called Saône, which isn’t far from Besançon, but he isn’t a city boy at all.
It’s a great city that I like a lot (we live in the Jura) but a shame not to highlight some of the important socio-political aspects of watchmaking in Besançon like the Lip factory. Besançon has an interesting history.
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@Caroline_Blackwell - small world I was just showing my daughter Saskia, the blog and she told me her friend, Abi, has an Aunt by your name 
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Yes I know!! the village he was born is near to Besancon, but he spent a lot of his childhood and growing up around Besancon! See the link in my post to The Guardian interview with Raymond Blanc.
My blog is a culinary travel blog so I focussed on the food with a little history added!
That’s amazing David, yes I am Abi’s aunt!! and I believe I have met Saskia once - you’re right what a small world! Whereabouts do you live in France? I am in the Haute Savoie…
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we haven’t made it over - still in the UK - I joined here when I started viewing trips, given the advice/ user experiences are excellent. The project remains on the shelf for me at this time.
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I hope your project becomes a reality - I love living in France!
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It’s just that the first line of your post read “Raymond Blanc and VH were born there”. So I didn’t click through to the blog as if there’s one mistake then it doesn’t encourage me to go further… sorry.