Oyes to Marigny-l’Église

After waving goodbye to Glenis and Mike at Aupres de L’Eglise we set off on Stage 3 of our French road-trip and headed down to Burgundy.

Our first stop, for lunch (of course) was just an hour down the road at Troyes…which is, in case you’re interested, pronounced as twah.

Troyes

Troyes is a remarkably well preserved medieval town right at the southern end of Champagne. The ancient capital of Champagne. there are plenty of half-timbered houses dating back to the 16th century, plus a heap of history from Roman-occupied France and even earlier – to the Celts as early as 600BC.

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In the 15th century Rue Maillard became known as Ruelle des Chats, or Cat Alley, on account of the roofs being so close together that the cats could jump from one attic safely to another.

Paved in the old style, the Ruelle des Chats had, as was the custom of the time, one common gutter. The privileged classes walked on the upper side of the street so as not to soil their clothes. The houses lean closer to each other the higher up they go.

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We, however, were here for lunch. So after a wander around town we got down to the serious business of choosing a restaurant.

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A speciality of Troyes, and indeed this region, in the Andouillette sausage. I’ll tell you more about this particular “delicacy” another time, but at this point let’s just say that even it was on my list of foods NOT to try in France, Grant was, of course, keen to do just that.

Despite Fiona and I urging him on to just get some and be done with it, he resisted the temptation and instead ordered sausage and sauerkraut. I opted for a Lyonnaise salad – which was massive and full of bacon, corn, leaves and topped with sausage and toast with melted goats cheese.

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Marigny-l’Église

Back in the car we headed out towards Burgundy and Marigny-l’Église, our home for the next few nights.

Our cottage is a simple gite in a small village, or commune, as they call it. There’s a church across the road that chimes on the hour between 8am and (I think) 9pm, a village store come restaurant that is closed the entire time we’re here.

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We have everything we need in our cottage – including a fire which we make use of in the evening.

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Best of all is the little garden.

We sit out here at the end of the day and drink wine.

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The closest shops and restaurants are in Quarré-les-Tombes, a few kilometres away.

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We also come here for dinner on that first night – to a restaurant named Le Morvan. We choose the 2 course menu. The photos aren’t great but the food was good – although my seafood mousse in langoustine broth was way too rich for me.

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