Travel: La Motte-Tilly and Forêt d'Orient

Hi guys!

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!

Travel: Tonnerre and Provins

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!

 

Rose garden

Rose garden

Travel: Joigny and Chablis

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.