Our Red Car Road Trip continued on to the next stop. The guy that Dave had met on the trail back in St. Antonin who recommended Uzes in Provence, also recommended Troyes, a medieval town in the Champagne region. A few hours east of Paris. We had liked his advice before, so to Troyes (pronounced Twah) we went. It’s not very touristy. A French friend asked how we’d heard of it. Ha! From a man on a trail in the woods! Great town. Well preserved OLD town center, very walkable, lots of places serving food and varieties of champagne, and the liqueur that you can pretty much only get there: Prunelle de Troyes. Golden, sweet, richly flavored quite strong liqueur made from plums. Ohhh la la.

This time we stayed in a budget 16th-century half-timbered house. Cute, charming actually, but the AirBnB host could do so much more with the place. It was kinda bare bones, but clean, quiet, comfortable, and cheap, and we were only there 2 nights. I’ll have to come back and help her decorate!  Troyes was also an early center for the Knights Templar, a mysterious group of monks who became warriors to protect others, and answered only to the Pope. Their organization grew huge, and spread far and wide, as far north as Ireland and Scotland. For 200 years, until a serious falling out with the Pope, who turned against them, and had them jailed or killed or burned at the stake as heretics. So, here is Troyes, in all her ancient glory. Do visit sometime, & enjoy!