TROYES - France

I went with two friends to Thonon les Bains to spend some holidays. On our way to the Lake of Geneva, we stopped for a day in Troyes. I loved it from first sight ! I found myself suddenly in the 16th century or even earlier, because many half-timbered houses (mainly of the 16th century) survived in the old town. Troyes has been in existence since the Roman era, which stood at the hub of numerous highways, primarily the Via Agrippa.

Troyes has an irresistible aura thanks to its multi-coloured rows of timber-framed houses huddled closely together, its maze of narrow streets, alleyways and hidden passages.  Its history which lives on today on
every street corner, its chain of Romanesque and Gothic churches, its public parks and gardens with their
old-worldly charm, its medieval-style shops, its old city centre shaped like a champagne cork,  its twisting, turning river, Troyes is a city bursting at the seams with romanticism.

Of course we only had time to stroll through the narrow cobbled streets and alleys and admired the beautiful old houses.



The city hall is on a large place with many little cafés, brasseries, restaurants etc.























There is not a lot to explain, the pictures are talking by themselves !







An optician had chosen a cat for its sign, which as a cat lover I found very original.



You have the choice of restaurants, there is one besides the other



and then the little details at the houses



a water pipe with a snake head



We discovered a small alley named "the cat alley" and walking through we discovered a very cute restaurant,"La Mignardise" .



The decoration of the court yard was so beautiful, that we decided to go there for supper.



We could eat outside in the little court yard, beautifully decorated and the food was excellent too.

The only thing which I deplored was that most of the houses badly needed some restoring or at least a painting of the beams. They didn't look very fresh and it itched in my fingers to take a painting pot and repaint the whole city. But this idea I gave up quickly, I am far too lazy for that and probably not a good house painter either.