Leaving Strasbourg - Wednesday 8 July 2009

We left Strasbourg heading for Reims on our way to Paris but changed our plans after a phone call to one of the car dealers we’ve been talking to. They’ve offered us 6000 euros for our beautiful car and we’re devastated because it’s such a good car and we think it’s worth more than that. Anyway the upshot is that this dealer has a car yard outside Paris and we can leave the car with them and they will sell our car for us on a commission basis, hopefully before we have to leave the country. For this reason we decided to detour to Troyes instead of going to Reims so we could take the car to the dealership in the south of Paris.

Troyes is a really interesting place. The old city is full of those unique half timbered houses. Troyes burnt down and was rebuilt in 1524 and it’s an interesting place to walk around. It’s funny how you can get such a different impression of a place by how everything works out when you arrive.

When we arrived it was pouring rain and we had no accommodation booked. The very first hotel I rang had a family room available for 82 euros and the lady spoke English and she was so friendly and helpful. Parking was not far away and wifi was gratuit too. The hotel was 2 stars and was one of those gorgeous old fashioned places full of character and charm although with brand new bathroom. My sense of charm doesn’t extend to outdated bathroom fittings.

Later in the afternoon we went for a quick trip to the outlet shopping centre. Troyes is famous like brands like Lacoste and Petite Bateau but even with the hugely discounted prices the conversion still made the clothes expensive. For dinner the kids decided they fancied chinese food so we found a restaurant close to the hotel and enjoyed noodles and veges and then walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow we plan to take the car to the dealer and maybe I’ll get to go to Fountainbleu after all.