1,2,Troyes

We drove on to the contemporary market town (French designer outlet store malls; which we never saw) of Troyes, mainly to see the place and four of its notable churches. We thought we had seen some beautiful old towns and buildings in Europe, but Troyes (pronounced like trois) takes the prize in that regard. How so many of the oldest buildings survived all the many centuries of turmoil must be a good story.

We spent the night before Troyes at an aire in Piney, which
had the largest wood fence/pile ever, so far; above is only
one of the two sides; seems like we stayed in a Piney, Wyoming,
once, but maybe that was Pinedale

So you think your contractor did a lousy job? The above was
remodeled in 2004; actually it is famous, the Maison du Dauphin,
1472, one of the oldest in Troyes

Another, next to the cathedral

The home of Chretien de Troyes, noted Medieval poet,
whose works inspired, among others, Wagner

One of many beautiful squares

High Street; we had lunch, galettes and
omelette, and cidre, at the purple-striped
restaurant

Turreted half-timbered building

Interior of another restaurant

Interesting combination of Coquille St. Jacques
and the talking snake episode

Block after block of these in the old town

Property taxes in the Middle Ages were based
only on first floor square footage; seriously;
so the upper floors expanded as much as you
dared...

Sometimes too much...to pass the test of time,
anyway

Hobbit house

A beautiful old town; well cared-for; ample historical signage

With much great outdoor sculpture too

Thus