It was a warm late summers morning when we drove away from Les Douaires. I was slightly apprehensive about the start of our holidays but happy that after almost two years of Covid lockdown and restrictions we were finally able to ‘go away’, albeit to France.

After a long and sometimes slow drive we arrived in Troyes and our hotel for the next two nights. Troyes is pronounced ‘trois’ and is the city where the troy weight for gold originated. So, nothing to do with Greek legends and wooden horses.

It’s a lively town, a little touristy and with a sizable student population, which we observed on our first night, eating and drinking, well mostly drinking but then it was Saturday. We’d reserved a table at Le Valentino, which was really nice but a little reserved. We strolled back through the old town which is really charming and got to bed quite early as we were both very tired.

Today, fortified by a buffet breakfast, we explored more of the old town which I gradually warmed to. There were slightly less people around which probably helped. The historic centre is quite small, though we managed to fill in nearly five hours of walking. Perhaps I should point out that the walking was interspersed with stops for sedentary recovery of tired limbs and ‘refuelling’

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We staggered back to the hotel and had a nap before going out for dinner. Yes, this holiday will follow the pattern of other preceding ones, walking, sightseeing and stuffing our faces. Tonight we ate at ‘Chez Felix’, an appropriately cat themed restaurant in the ‘Ruelle De Chats’.

It was really nice and had a much warmer ambiance than the previous night. I chose a dessert which contained a pear sorbet and a sizeable shot of eau de vie. Be warned, it’s very potent.

Anyway, we are now back in our room, with an alarm set so we can breakfast fairly early. Our next stop (for one night only) is Macon, 300km further south. Then on to Pont Du Gard, Nimes etc…..