And then only two were left. We were the only two au pairs left in Paris from our agency and no regrets. Who doesn't love being in Europe for the summer. I have been here for almost a year and I found out the best thing ever. Our families pay for Navigos for us as part of our au pair contracts. Navigos is our train passes. Depending on the family it is paid differently, either monthly or like mine, it was paid for the whole year. The navigo is literally a life saver. I can go anywhere around Paris at any time with my navigo, it included the metro and RER and some special things like the feniculaire, that gets you to the top of Montmartre.
What I didn't know is that you can get to the other villages in the ÃŽle de Paris area. My friend Brittany and I ended up going to Provins on a Saturday. Provins is a cute little medieval town that is just one hour away from the main city by train. It was such a great day trip and a good getaway from the always busy city.
Provins is known for their roses. Unfortunately we were a little late to see them in full bloom. There were still roses here and there, enough to enjoy. They sold all types of rose products: rose ice cream, honey with rose, rose jam, chocolates with rose, candied rose petals...everything you can make with rose was there.
When we first got off the train, there was already signs to get to the centre of town.
There were a lot of little canals passing under the bridges and it was a quick walk to get to the centre. We had brought a baguette with some spread and some fresh
grapes; We found a bench on the street and sat down and had lunch. The street was decorated with flowers all the way down, they were all color coordinated and they were just everywhere, they were in flower pots, hanging on the railings or light post. It really did make the centre feel like a fairytale.
We tried finding the tourist office, but somehow between following the signs and taking to much we didn't find the office. Instead we climbed up this big hill and ended up in the medieval centre city. We walked around for a bit. We did a mini audio tour at La Grange aux dîmes de Provins. Its a typical 12th century house made out of stone where merchants and traders from all over came to show off their supplies. They sold from textile, to paper, to even spices. They had little scenarios across the two floors of the building and you just go around listening to the history on the device they give you in your language.
We visited La Tour César after. It is a big tower from the 12th century. It served as a watch tower, a refuge and a prison. There was a vineyard right next to it. Unfortunately for us, it was dried up since It was in season.
We did a 10 minute walk to find La Roseraie de Provins. We had to enter this little building the sold a bunch of rose themed souvenirs and flowers. They had a little cafe that was on the terrace right in front of the garden. To walk around the garden we were suppose to pay 7 euros but we decided not to do since there weren't any roses in sight. We just walked around for a bit and took a few pictures and left to look for some rose Ice Cream.
We headed back down to the modern centre of town to get our ice cream, and made it back to the train on time. It was a very easy trip and I look forward to going again. This time when the Roses are in full swing.
Top Photo: In the Centre of Town
Middle Photo: Rose Ice Cream with Stracciatella ice cream
Bottom Photo: La Tour César