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Friday April 17. Clairvaux. 18.3 km.

 I left Troyes wishing I had another day to see more. I highly recommend a visit here if you are thinking of touring in France!  

Medieval Troyes was famous for hosting some of the biggest fairs in this region. These happened twice a year and lasted about two weeks, with traders coming from all directions in Europe.  This square with its modern Bourse de Travail would have been one of the open areas used. This was early morning; cafe waiters were just beginning to put out later tables and chairs.  In the evening streets like this are very lively.


By the 16th century Troyes was the fifth largest French city. Its industries were making cloth, working leather, making paper and printing. Much of the city burned down in 1524 but was rebuilt soon afterwards.  It was walled; this is a painting of one of the gates before the walls were demolished in the nineteenth century.


Anyway, this morning I caught a train back to the Via at Bar-sur-Aube, skipping two days walking.  Houses are increasingly of stone, villages are still prosperous because of champagne being produced, and the countryside is rolling as the path gets nearer to Switzerland. 

Each village has a town hall or mairie, usually open only one or two days a week.  Bar-le-Duc is more like a very small town and has a most impressive stone town hall.


At the next village, Baroville, the mayor happened to walk by as I was eating lunch and airing out my naked feet. Gallantly, he ran into his mairie and returned with a stamp for my pilgrim passport. I thanked him for the benches.


Baroville is surrounded by 217 hectares (536 acres) of vineyards, with over 50 wineries, mostly I think for champagne.  Interesting that this remains the domain of small enterprise, not industrial scale agriculture. Also of note, the villages here are all in low areas, contrary to Italy where they are up high.  





Comments

  1. RitaApril 18, 2026 at 10:20 AM

    Wow, Celia, stamped personally by the mayor of Baroville. How many Via pilgrims can say that!

    ReplyDelete

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