xc and the weekend escapade 1: Provins

Provins is a small medieval town south east of Paris. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2001. The medieval part of the town is quite small but well preserved. The walls are still there and you can go up and get a good view of the city from there. Be careful not to touch the walls though because it's full of bird poop. There are 3 walking tours you can take around the medieval village. Just make sure that if you get 2 (or more) maps of the village from the tourism office, they are of the same language/country. We got punked that way. G had a french map and I had an english one. The color coding system for the walks are different and not all spots are marked on the english one. So when we both said we were going to take the blue walk, I was talking of a different blue walk than he was.

We first thought of staying the night in Provins but the town is really small that we were able to do everything in 1 day and still had the time to return to some sites we liked. So we ended up going back to Paris on the last train.

Here are some tips for a nice stress-free trip to Provins.

TRAIN (1h24mins):
Take the Transilien from Gare de l'Est to Provins. Provins is in zone 6 so from Paris, so unless you have a pass for 6 zones, the fare is 10.10 Euros.

For train times, check www.transilien.com. Also make sure that you check the times for the day you go. Some trains don't run on weekends.

HOTEL:
We were supposed to stay at this little bed and breakfast: La Maison Rose Aux Volets Verts. The prices are reasonable and the decor is really quaint and comfy.

RESTAURANT:
Most boulangeries and shops close at 1pm and re-open at around 5pm. We didn't know this when we arrived. We we arrived we saw a lot of restaurants and boulangeries that we thought we wouldn't have a problem finding food later. But no!!!
Luckily we were able to find this really good restaurant that has a lunch menu for only 11.50 Euros. For that we had an entree, the main dish, and a dessert. Not bad at all!
Les Quat' Saisons

SMART TIP:
If you want to visit all 4 monuments in Provins, it's better to get the Pass Provins for 9.50 Euros. If not, the entrance fee for each monument is around 3.60 per person.

For more information on the monuments and shows, click here.

the town's plaza, view from the tour cesar

Happy day trip!


peace and luv,
xc