Troyes & Rouen, France
 

After reviewing the available posts on these two cities, I am interested in anyone's feedback who has visited these two cities in the past 6 months or at most a year. We will be visiting in January via train from Paris.<BR><BR>We have chosen these two cities for their obvious historical/cultural importance to their region &amp; we have already done web/book research to sate our mental curiosity. These two cities will compliment another day trip to Amiens. We realize that our trip is centered on gothic architecture and we will be interested in maximizing on that.<BR><BR>My best question is about logistics; in particular timing. Is there a particular church, public building, or area that you were particularly impressed with because of, oh let's say, a specific Mass or other event you attended while being there. These would preferably be regular daily or weekly events including markets.<BR><BR>These are truly all day trips generally arriving into the ville early between 8-9 am &amp; leaving late between 7-8 pm. We are leaving the towns late in order to enjoy some of the special lighting applied to many of the eglises (in particular Amiens where the lighting is used to recreate the original coloring of the facade). We will not be venturing outside of the towns' city centers because of logistic constraints on transportation &amp; time.

I was in Troyes the end of April this year for 3 days and had a great time. It's an excellent little city with plenty to do in the old town. More than enough to keep you busy for a day-trip. You gotta love a city that's old walls were laid out in the shape of a champagne cork. Now the walls are gone, but the main boulevards still trace the outline.<BR><BR>I visited the Cathedral of Saints Peter &amp; Paul, the small apothecary museum, the fine arts museum, the modern art museum, Basilique St. Urbain, Eglise Pantaleon and the two museums in the Hotel de Vauluisant. One museum is a very interesting textile museum, the other is the History of Troyes museum.<BR><BR>I bought a combo ticket that gave access to 4 sites for one price:<BR>1. Abbaye Saint-Loupe which contains the fine arts and archeology museums<BR>2. Hotel de Vauluisant which contains the textile and Troyes city museums<BR>3. Hotel Dieu-le-Comte which contains the apothecary museum<BR>4. Musee d'Art Moderne <BR><BR>I did not see the inside of the following churches: St. Madeleine, Saint Jean, Saint-Remy, Saint Nizier, St Nicholas or Saint Martin. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get into all the churches. On the door of the churches was a schedule posted of when certain churches would be open for mass. Only the cathedral and basilica were open all of the time. I guess it's kinda tough with all those churches, a priest shortage and not many people attending them. I caught the end of a mass at Pantleon in order to see the inside of it. Your best bet would probably be to get to a church door early and see when and where masses will be held that day.<BR><BR>There is a tourist office to the right as you walk out of the SNCF station. It's at the corner of ave Joffre and blvd Carnot. I picked up a great little town map that had all the sites listed. You can walk from the train station to the Hotel de Ville in less than 15 minutes so it's compact and easy to get around.<BR><BR>From the Tourist office if you make the corner to the right onto Blvd. Carnot, you'll see the Hotel Royal on the right. I stayed there and had dinner on two of my three nights. It was excellent. I made a note of my first meal: confit of duck and duck foie gras with salted cabbage slaw, veal kidneys in black mustard sauce, cheese course and raspberry tart for dessert. The fixe-prix menu was about 25 euros. The waiter was extremely nice. I was discussing the kind of cheeses I like, strong as goat cheese but not as strong as blue cheese. He recommended a couple of goat cheeses then Langres. I really like the Langres and ask for it now. Here's the hotel web site www.royal-hotel-troyes.com<BR><BR>It's a real e-mail address. If you have further questions you can e-mail me directly or ask here. I'll try to answer as best I can.

have just returned from a trip to Burgundy, Troyes (TROIS) is a beautiful city to explore,but a previous post noted that not all the churches are open and mass schedules at different churches are listed.We love the city of Rouen and it has almost too much to see in one day. We too are interested in Gothic architecture, in fact the churches have better art than many of the museums. Our favorite churches are baroque interiors and the art displayed is glorious and the wood carving is &quot;heavenly&quot;. Unfortunately the best are in Bavaria and Austria, maybe on your next trip?!!

Alana - for history and gothic, Rouen is an awesome choice. The logistics for a day trip by train should be a breeze as your area of interest is very compact. From the train station it's a short walk on Rue Jeanne d'Arc to the old city with great half-timbered homes and pedestrian (sorta) streets that make Rouen a great walking city. The Cathredral and le Gros Horloge - the BIG clock - are the most famous sites. For something offbeat, I suggest you find the Aitre St Maclou, an old cemetary with bizarre carvings that is now an art school. Enjoy...bb

Thank you all for your well-thought replies. Hearing personal accounts is always a boon in making those final decisions!

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