A short distance from the hustle
and bustle of crowded Parisian streets, there lays a small medieval town called
Provins just waiting to be explored. This little sleepy village has much to
offer any type of traveler, from its magnificent 12th century
cathedrals to its scrumptious patisseries and picturesque waterways.
Just
across the square and up a small hill there is another looming building which
resembles a fortress and is called Caesar’s Tower. It was once used as a prison
but is now the bell tower for the church. We tried to enter but found out that
tours didn’t start for another hour or so and decided to find someplace to eat
before going back to view the inside.
We’d
spent enough time refueling and warming up that we were now ready to enter the
Tower. There were many different levels and each one offered a gorgeous view of
the little town and surrounding areas, as you went higher and higher up, the
panoramic picture just got more and more beautiful to look at. The rooftops
were interlaced with trees in all shades of fall colors; reds, oranges, yellows
and golds. Those made it even harder to pull ourselves away and explore the
innards of the structure. There was a large main circular room and smaller ones
that opened up at different points along the circle. The highest level housed
the bell or two actually, and is surrounded by wooden planks so we weren’t sure
at first what we were looking at till I spotted a bell behind all the
crisscrossing wooden beams. We stayed up there enjoying the view as long as we
possibly could but once our extremities started to go numb, we reluctantly left
to finish wandering the town.
One of
the best ways to experience a European city is to stop in a local bakery or, in
France’s case, a patisserie. So we purchased a few deliciously odd looking
items to enjoy on the train ride home. Walking along we found a few more incredibly
interesting churches like Saint Crioxe, laced with statues of all sorts and
gothic architecture as well as the bell tower of Notre Dame- du- Val.
Eventually wandering too far and reaching a park where we stopped to feed some
ducks, we realized we needed to be at the train station quite soon and had no
idea where we were. So after asking directions quite a few times, we were
running through the town, trying to take it all in one last time as we sped by!
I yelled a good bye and thank you to one of my new favorite little towns, and upon
reaching the station with a few minutes to spare; we caught our breath and
boarded the train. On the way home I enjoyed my pistachio éclair while being
mesmerized by the brilliant orange sun setting over the hills in the distance.
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