This is the last travel post you'll see in a while! Then it's back to normal again.
About 30 minutes away from Voisines is a small village called La Motte-Tilly. There, you
can find a large château. It was built by the Terray brothers; one of them was
an important finance person for the king, Louis XV. There is a guided tour of the château, again
only in French. I’m afraid you can only visit the château with the tour but you
can just wonder around the grounds which are lovely. A tip though, take anti
mosquito product with you because after some rain, it’s swarming with them!
Another
place to go on a hot day is the Forêt d’Orient. It's about an hour away to the east. Again, take mosquito product
because there are quite a few around there too because of the three big lakes
you’ll find. They’re the main reservoirs for Paris apparently and two of them
are huge. It’s good for cycling, bird-watching, walking, etc. We went mainly to
go swimming in the lakes. It was really refreshing and you can see lots of
little fish but it was quite busy. It’s a touristy place but it was also
full of locals. The complex was huge; there was a whole
harbour/shopping/restaurant area. It was really nice.
That's it! Last travel post for a few months. I hope you enjoyed them!
Sorry this is a bit late, I went to London at the weekend to celebrate my godsister's 18th birthday by going to the Proms in the Park. It was fabulous!
Anyway, after we went to Chablis we drove to Tonnerre. It's not very far and it's a lovely little sleepy town. There's the famous "Fosse Dionne" which is like a natural well and divers have gone very deep inside it to find the source without ever getting there. You can also climb up to a spectacular looking cathedral. It's a bit run down inside but the views are well worth the climb!
We then travelled north from Voisines to Provins. Provins is a historical town, everything is based around the Middle-Ages and it's a very interesting place to go. All the tourist attractions like the "Caesar Tower" or the Barn had people dressed up in traditional Medieval dresses. It's very touristy in high season but if you go early enough in the morning you'll avoid most of the crowds. Provins is known for it's rose products. It has a wonderful rose garden and they make rose cider, rose candles, rose honeys etc. It really is a charming place. Well worth the visit despite the people. Another thing that's worth going to is the underground tour. It's a guided tour of the ancient underground passages of Provins, unfortunately it is only done in french but it's nice and cool down there and it's worth having a look round!
The Barn was where all the trading was done, it had some creepy models in it though!
Hi guys! These are the last three travel posts you'll see in a while. From me anyway.
So, about half an hour from where we were staying there is a place called Joigny. It's probably about the same size as Sens. It's full of old wooden buildings and narrow streets. A very calm and charming place. If you go to the tourist office which is on the road that runs along the Yonne river, they can give you a leaflet with a map and a historical tour of the town. It was very interesting. Joigny is on a slope so be prepared for some uphill and downhill walking.
Chablis is another town that we visited. It's about an hour's drive, south from Voisines. It's one of the more touristy places of the area because of the famous wine they make there. It's still a lovely town though and we had a nice walk along the river. It also has a little park there so we wandered through there too. If you like markets they had a big one going on there on a sunday, it was quite busy though. Of course we went wine tasting and also tried the local specialities: some Marc de Bourgogne, like a grappa, and some Ratafia which is a lot sweeter. It was really yummy and the person serving us was very nice.
These were both lovely towns and I would highly recommend a visit.
Hi guys! This will be the last series of travel blogs for a while. I went to France for 2 weeks this summer and absolutely loved it. I took a break from all things social media including blogging and filming. We stayed in a little village called Voisines which was lovely and that was in the Yonne region in north Burgundy.
First of all, let me introduce you to the region. There were no tourists, it was very rural and very quiet, it's known for it's cider, cheese and also a pastry dish called gougère. The Yonne region is just in Burgundy but surrounding it you have the Champagne region, the Centre and Ile de France.
The closest town to Voisines was called Sens. It's quite a small town but the cathedral is huge. We wondered why and eventually found out that it used to be the capital of the ecclesiastic towns of Paris, Meaux, Auxerre, Chartres, Orléans, Nevers and Troyes in the Middle-Ages. Sens also has an outdoor market every monday and friday that sells mostly clothes and a covered market on the same days that sells all manor of food. The covered market is opposite the cathedral, on the the main square which is lovely. They even have a giant chess game in the middle of this square!
Covered market across the square
Chess in the square
About an hour away is a place called Troyes. It's in the Champagne region. Troyes is a little more touristy because of it's charming medieval houses and also because it's a bigger town. It also has a big cathedral and many other attractions. You can find cute little squares, little churches, lovely gardens and also narrow roads like the Ruelle des chats, so called because cats could jump from one roof to another because it's so narrow. Troyes is also quite good for shopping and eating. It has a shopping street and there are quite a few restaurants around.
Ruelle des chats
Little church garden
Those are the first two towns. I will be writing about the next two next week!
Hi guys! So you might have seen my Paris vlog that I uploaded the other day! Here it is:
Anyway, I'll tell you in detail what we got up to here and give you a few helpful (I hope) tips and tricks.
We took the Thalys in which worked really well and then caught the metro (it's not as complicated as it looks, you just need to take your time with it).
We got to our hotel which was the Studio Hotel, near the convention metro station. It was a bit strange and small. Our window wouldn't shut for example and it looked very outdated. The staff were lovely and very helpful though, the bed wasn't too uncomfortable, the shower was nice and the location was quite good too. The only thing I regret was the fact that the toilet was outside the bedroom but we didn't seem to be sharing it with anybody. We only paid 180 euros for three nights so very cheap for Paris. One thing you have to remember about Paris are that the hotels can be very hit and miss. You can end up in some fabulous places but you can also be staying in a very cheap looking place.
That afternoon/evening we wandered up Rue de la Convention and ended up at the Seine so we walked down to the Eiffel tower and the Champ de Mars which is lovely but very touristy. After that we went to the Hotel des Invalides which was quite spectacular. We just walked around the gardens and had an ice lolly in the cafeteria but there's also a museum.
We decided to get food so we walked all the way down rue de Vaugirard in search for a sandwich or something and ended up eating in a sort of fast food pasta place. It was a bit salty but good anyway. I couldn't finish mine so I had it for dinner the next day too with an apple and an éclair.
By then we were tired so we just went back to the hotel and watched a film on tv.
The next day, we had pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) for breakfast at a little bakery. We ended up having this every morning because it was yummy and inexpensive. The first thing we did was catch the metro to a stop not far from the Jardin du Luxembourg which is where the Senat is. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous garden. I really enjoyed it and it's very pretty and well kept.
For lunch we just popped into a local supermarket and picked up some bread and salami.
Then, we wanted to go to the Musée d'Orsay but the queue was very long so we kept walking along the Seine. We crossed it near the beginning of the Champs Elysée and the went into the Petit Palais which is opposite the Grand Palais which is more touristy. We didn't have to queue at all and the entrance to see their permanent pieces was free. So if you like classic art, this is a good museum to go to.
Grand Palais
Petit Palais
Once we'd finished visiting the museum we walked up the Champs Elysée a bit but decided it wasn't really that interesting unless you were going shopping.
So we decided to walk all the way back up the Seine and to the Notre-Dame cathedral. This is on an island in the Seine called la Cité. It's quite a nice part of Paris and we would have explored more of it if we had time. Notre-Dame is definitely a must see if you go to Paris. It's absolutely huge and it's an amazing building. Entrance is free but you might have to queue to get in but it's not too long. If you want to visit the tower and/or the treasury then you have to pay.
We walked back over one of the bridges with all the locks on them and then went back to our hotel because we were tired. Again, we just bought some bits and pieces from the shop for dinner.
On our final day we were going to go up the Eiffel tower but when we got there the queues were unbelievable and they weren't moving.
For lunch we just picked up some sandwiches from the shop again.
So we walked all the way to the Pantheon which is a lovely building. In the crypts you can find the tombs of people like Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Voltaire. This was free for all people 18 and under who are from the EU and it wasn't very expensive for the others. I will just warn you that the Pantheon is up quite a steep hill but it's well worth it. You also get a nice view of Paris and the Eiffel tower from up there.
After that, we walked back down to the Jardin du Luxembourg because it was so good that we decided that we wanted to see it again.
Once we'd had a bit of a walk around the park, we made our way to the Louvre to see the gardens and grounds there. If you want to go into any of the big museums in Paris, I would recommend going out of season if you can. We just wandered through the gardens which was lovely and there was quite a buzzing atmosphere around there.
We had decided to go out for dinner on our final night so we trekked around for ages trying to find somewhere that did vegetarian because I can't eat heavy meat. In the end we just settled for a pizza place which was really nice and friendly. I think it was called Alfio on the Boulevard de la Bourdonnais near the Champs de Mars. We even had some yummy Champagne!
Then it was time to go back to the hotel. We had a train at about 1 pm the next day so we packed in the morning and then went out to have breakfast and get food for lunch and then it was time to go.
Paris is a fabulous city and I would really recommend you visit. I loved every minute of our stay there and will definitely go back!
