Provins

The heavens opened overnight last night, but I do enjoy laying there listening to the sound of the rain bouncing off the roof.

We left Arras and made the 160 mile journey to Provins, a UNESCO World Heritage site to the east of Paris. We let the satnav take us on the toll roads, but when we left the A1 we rather wished we hadn’t, as the cost was €19 – ouch! The weather was very overcast so it’s not like we had a good view of the countryside.

Overcast on the A1

The satnav took our Bromleymobile into the Provins old town and through the narrow streets, and I had to negotiate a tricky 90°turn through a gateway in the city wall.

A tight squeeze!

The aire was located just the other side of the wall, and we were the only ones here.

On our lonesome

We went to the visitor centre to get a map and also pay for the aire, and were chuffed to be told that the aire is free out of season.

The town is making a big thing of celebrating Chinese New Year with the tourist information staff dressed up in Chinese outfits. It seemed funny walking through the medieval streets with the red Chinese lanterns, past restaurants serving Chinese food to the sound of pied Chinese music.

The town square

Given that we are staying here for free, we stopped off at a cafe for a drink and a snack and put a few bob back into the local economy.

Tomorrow we will be driving south to a small town near Limoges. Hopefully the weather will improve, and we’ll steer clear of the toll roads!

Mike