La pensée est plus qu'un droit, c'est le souffle même de l'homme. Qui entrave la pensée, attente à l'homme même.
À toute diminution de la liberté de la presse correspond une diminution de civilisation.
- Victor Hugo, Discours de Bruxelles (1862)
Our rest day in Besançon began with a visit to the birthplace of Victor Hugo, now a museum about the writer and about freedom of the press. Just across the square is the location of the home and former photography studio which is the birthplace of the Lumiere brothers, inventors of the cinématographe and pioneer filmmakers.
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| The birthplace of the Lumiere brothers |
Close by Place Hugo are the remaining vestiges of the city's Roman origins, a few columns and a triumphal arch built in 175 BC and dedicated to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Just through the arch, used as a city gate in medieval times, is the cathedral, where I ended up spending much of the rest of my day. We visited it in the morning as tourists, and to ask for the cathedral stamp on our pilgrim credentials. Then we went to see the astronomic clock in the tower beside the church, and headed into the main square to look for something to eat.
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| Roman columns |
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| Porte Noire, originally a Roman arch |
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| The cathedral entrance |
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| The cathedral, empty, in the morning |
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| Unusual circular altar |
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| The astronomical clock |
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| The square, as seen from our restaurant |
After lunch and a nap, I went back to the cathedral and attended a special service being held for Pentecost and adult confirmation. There were many adults being confirmed into the church, and the cathedral was absolutely packed, right down to the back row. I arrived early so I had an aisle seat, and imagine my surprise when, at the head of the procession of altar boys and clergy, bearing the incense, I spotted Jacques, the friend and representative of the Via Francigena Association I'd had dinner with in Champlitte! I don't know whether I was more surprised to see him, or he to see me! In any case, the service was a lovely one, with lots of involvement on the part of the entire congregation, all joining in the singing and taking communion. Afterwards, drinks and snacks were served in the garden of the bishop's house across from the cathedral, and there Jacques introduced me to the Archbishop of Besançon! He endorsed my credential for me, and we had a photo taken together.
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| The packed cathedral after the service |
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| With Jacques and the Archbishop of Besançon |
In the evening I met up with Elaine and Mick for dinner at a brasserie in the park close to our accommodations. Mick had had a very different sort of day from mine, attending a gathering organised by anarchists and speaking to political activists in a city that has a long history of anarchism. Besançon is the hometown of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, considered the father of anarchism and of mutualist philosophy, the first person to define himself as an anarchist, author of the phrase Property is theft.
Meanwhile, Elaine had been scouting out the beginning of tomorrow's stage on the Via Francigena, which appears to start with a steep climb above the citadel of Besançon.
I hope to be ready for it, after my day of rest!
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