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The capital of Franche-Comte, BESANCON is an ancient and attractive grey-stone town at the northern edge of the Jura mountains, enclosed in a loop of the River Doubs, whose lugubrious meanders define the layout of the old town. The tongue of land it sits on has been protected since Roman times, when it lay on a major trading route; the indefatigable Vauban added the still-extant fortifications and a citadel to guard the natural breach in the river. Once a major centre of French clock-making (until the Far East became important in the manufacturing industry), Besancon was also the birthplace of artificial silk - or rayon - in 1890. It counts among its native sons both the pioneering Lumiere brothers and epic novelist Victor Hugo. The River Doubs rises on the high plateau 100km to the south of here, making a diversion far to the northwest of the town, gathering tributaries and broadening as it briefly crosses the Swiss border before entering Besancon. A lazy journey upstream to Pontarlier can make a rewarding excursion over a couple of days. From Pontarlier a direct return north to Besancon can be made by following the River Loue 's steep descent through its heavily wooded valley past the pretty mill town of Ornans .
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