The modern block was attached to an ancient one which only offered rooms. The university restaurant was on the ground floor. During lunch and dinner times, many students walked in and out.
My studio was facing the car park, big trees and the Doubs river. The view was different according to the seasons.
The location was very strategic. If I walked along the river on the left,
I could go straight to the Battant street to visit Ernest and Nicole in their shop. If I crossed the Battant bridge, I was in the city centre. If I strolled along the quayside on the right,
the Applied Linguistics Centre, one of the earliest futurist buidings in Besançon, was nearby.
Blessed with such a nice environment, I decided to make jogging a sport to practise regularly. After my Taiwanese friend I-Chen had found out this activity of mine, she expressed her interest to join me, which I accepted with great pleasure.
So every morning, I waited for I-Chen in my studio at a fixed time. Then we set off along the riverbank at a jog.
We chatted while running slowly on the path.
The Doubs river was like a mirror. All the beauty of this greenest city in France
just reflected in the water.
Every time I passed by this magnificent patchwork, I was always marvelled over our Almighty God's artistic talent.
When we ran a bit longer, we could exchange fresh air with the forest.
Our jogging usually took one hour. After burning a few hundred calories, we would return to my studio to have a heavy breakfast together. That was why I never managed to lose a kilo despite the daily exercise.
After I had left Besançon in 2002, I-Chen still continued the practice without me, until she no longer lived in the city centre. The sight of the two Asian joggers in front of the Canot students' residential blocks became a sweet memory of the Doubs river.
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