Friday in Provins, France

To kick off a beautiful, brisk March weekend in France, we decided to take a little road trip to the famous Medieval village of Provins. Our trusty new friend, Francois, who is our new Renault manual-shift, 6-gear buddy, took us on the gorgeous hour and a half drive through the French countryside. This is what we saw as we approached our destination.

We parked Francois safely in a lot near this church, which turned out to be Saint Ayoul church, which was originally built in the 11th century. It's famous for housing relics of St. Ayoul, and was built specifically to protect those relics. This church is currently closed (which, you will soon find out, was the theme of this trip) for restoration, but the outside of the church was beautiful.

We strolled through the Ville Basse, or the Lower Town, passing quaint shops and cafes, and climbed the slight hill towards the Ville Haute, the Upper Town.

This little stairway took us to the famous church Saint Quiriace.

St. Quiriace

This beautiful 12th century church was renovated in the 17th century, when a gorgeous dome was added to the the top. Outside the main doors there is a plaque, commemorating
Joan of Arc's visit to this church.

Just across the cobblestone square from St. Quiriace is Cesar's Tower, a keep built between 1152 and 1181 which was used as a lookout tower to protect the city, and as a prison. The unusual architecture makes it a point of interest for tourists. It is the only known keep in France built with a hexagonal tower on top of a square base. While it was originally built in the 12th century, additions and modifications were made in the 16th and 18th centuries. But it's pretty old.


As we toured the city, Caroline was sure to keep us updated on the historical background of each monument. Unfortunately, we didn't read the opening hours very closely: all of the museums and historical sites are closed on Friday until the real tourist rush starts in the summer! (Who would've thought, in a country where most things are closed on Sundays, and often on Mondays or Tuesdays...?) So unfortunately we didn't get to visit as many sites as we had planned, but the weather was too beautiful to be indoors anyway.

We did, however, have time for lunch in the Ville Haute, at a cute cafe overlooking the central square.

After filling up on Brie de Meaux salad, (Brie being made in this region), we walked to the edge of the city to see the Porte St. Jean, which is a fortified gate originally built in the 14th century. It was built to protect the citizens of Provins, as this town housed the route from the countryside to Paris.
Porte St. Jean (from both sides)

Provins may be most famous for it's 13th century fortified walls. The rampart walls are over 25 meters tall and were built between 1226-1236.

The view from the top of this rampart wall shows the site of some of the activities that take place during the summer's Medieval Fairs, and also provides a great view of the dome of Saint Quiriace and Cesar's Tower.



A short walk back down the hill brought us back to the Ville Basse. We wandered around the town, admiring the half-timbered houses and beautiful town hall building. After a sample of a delicious chocolate eclair, we were back on the road.



Along the road back to Jouy-en-Josas, we drove by Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, and it was too impressive not to stop to gaze at. Unfortunately, it is closed until mid-March, but we plan to go back as soon as we can!
Provins is a medieval city filled with history and is definitely worth a visit. We'll be sure to go back on a day when we can really visit all of the sites that the city has to offer. More than anything, our day trip gave us a view of the incredible countryside that makes France such an enchanting country.