The medieval city of Provins is the best day journey for households. It’s solely an hour and half from Paris by prepare or prepare and bus, it’s extremely reasonably priced with most sights costing a couple of euros and plenty of free, and it’s immersive. If you wish to step again into the French Middle Ages, that is one of the simplest ways to do it.
Provins was the ultimate day of our first journey to Paris with children, and I’m so glad we received the possibility to indicate them one thing past the massive metropolis. Here’s one of the simplest ways to go to this UNESCO World Heritage Site boasting over 50 historic monuments.
What To See in Provins for Families
Tour César towering over Provins / picture credit score: JF Bénard
Since you’re in a walled metropolis, you naturally wish to discover the town partitions. Even higher, in Provins, you’ll be able to stroll on them! They’re over 80 ft excessive and over a mile lengthy, providing views of the town and an up-close take a look at the ramparts themselves.
The 5 high historic sights, moreover the ramparts, are the Tour César, the Tithe Barn, the Provins Museum, the Underground Galleries, and the Saint-Ayoul Priory. Each is positioned inside a medieval constructing, so the setting is simply as a lot part of the expertise because the reveals. The Caesar’s Keep was my favourite, but when you are able to do all 5, you completely ought to.
Grange aux Dimes exhibit in Provins / picture credit score: JF Bénard
Here are the monuments on the go. We had been in a position to simply barely squeeze in 4 of the 5 together with two reveals, however we didn’t spend as lengthy on the Tithe Barn as we wished.
- Tour César: This tower presents every part from a dungeon as much as panoramic views of the city. Climbing throughout this tower (as I reminded everybody to carry on alongside the curving, stone steps) was one of many highlights of our journey.
- Tithe Barn: Called the Grange aux Dîmes in French, this lined market as soon as housed the Trade Fairs of Champagne that made Provins one of many busiest cities in Europe 9 centuries in the past. You can see full-size replicas of sellers and their wares as you comply with alongside along with your audio information in English.
- Underground Galleries: Only a part of “Les souterrains de Provins” are open to the general public, and you will need to go along with a information. They have one English tour throughout the day, however even on our 45-minute French tour, we had been delighted to discover these subterranean tunnels as soon as used as a quarry, storerooms, a hideout for refugees, and gathering place for freemasons.
- Saint-Ayoul Priory: The oldest components of this priory date again earlier than the yr 1000. The web site options marvelous frescoes, stained glass, a cloister, cultural reveals, and extra with an audio information in English that will help you uncover all its secrets and techniques.
- Provins Museum: Artifacts and paintings from prehistoric occasions to the nineteenth century are on show on a number of flooring inside this previous stone constructing.
Get the Provins Pass, which incorporates all 5 monuments above, plus discounted tickets for different experiences on the town, together with the open-air reveals I point out beneath. It’s at present €15 per grownup or €10 for youths ages 4-12. If you will have two or extra children, get the household go for €45, protecting two adults and as much as 5 children.
Underground galleries / picture credit score: JF Bénard
Banquet des Troubadours Dinner Show
By far probably the most distinctive expertise of our go to to Provins was the three-hour Banquet des Troubadours. To dine, we descended right into a vaulted room courting to the Twelfth-century, the place we had been invited to decorate up in interval robes and hats if we selected.
An genuine Twelfth-century room for the feast / picture credit score: Banquet des Troubadours
The house is intimate, and also you’re near the leisure, a troupe of troubadours who play music, juggle, stroll on stilts, do magic, act out skits, and extra between the 5 programs of the meal. The present is in French, so a couple of of the puns might be missed in the event you solely converse English, however you’ll be able to comply with together with a lot of it by means of their intelligent pantomimes and bodily gags.
And most of the tips, similar to their feats with the diabolo, want no translation. Most beautiful of all is the fire-breathing finale. The children had been duly impressed and had been nonetheless speaking about it after we left the tavern.
Fiery acrobatics for the finale / picture credit score: Banquet des Troubadours
The meal itself is pleasantly spaced out. You’re consuming meals that would have been served throughout the Middle Ages, so no tomatoes, because the troubadours will inform you, since these haven’t been found but. It begins with vegetable soup. Then you’re served a scrumptious pork puff pastry, our favourite, earlier than the heartiest entree: a stew crammed with hen, beef, vegies, and lentils. To wrap it up, there’s brie after which a dessert plate that permits you to pattern a number of candy treats, together with pear with rose and a slice of gingerbread.
Even choosy eaters will discover one thing they like among the many many choices. If you don’t eat pork, you’ll be able to request a honeyed vegetable puff pastry prematurely. The children appeared to love the dessert finest, however the hen legs in the primary dish had been additionally successful. And they ate the brie!
In true dinner theater fashion, the troubadours name for viewers participation. All the visitors stood up and did a easy dance in a circle the troubadours taught us. At one level, the jester referenced “les Américains” — that was us — since America hadn’t been found but. (If you don’t converse French and don’t wish to take part, you’ll be able to at all times say that. They know sufficient English that they’ll perceive you.)
I like to recommend going for lunch since dinner on Saturday would get you again to Paris fairly late. Book forward on-line to save lots of your seat.
Book Your Stay in Provins
More Family-Friendly Entertainment
The princess and knight at La Legende des Chevaliers present in Provins / picture credit score: Equestrio
Whether you see the dinner present with the troubadours or not, you need to see one of many open-air medieval performances that usually run from late March to early November. These embrace:
- The Legends of the Knights, that includes jousting, dressage, and a narrative with a cheerful ending
- The Eagles of the Ramparts, a show of horseback falconry with eagles, hawks, vultures, and extra
- Fire Horses, a nighttime present a part of the Provins by Candlelight competition the primary Saturday of July and August
We noticed the primary of those talked about above: La Légende des Chevaliers. The story was in French, however that didn’t matter because it was largely in regards to the acrobatics, horsemanship, the catapult, and jousting. It’s straightforward to know that there’s a monster attacking the town, and that the “good guys” win the day. Afterward, we purchased some souvenirs on the store for the children.
When To Visit Provins
The Rose Garden of Provins in bloom / picture credit score: Roseraie de Provins
Summer is the busiest time to go to, nevertheless it’s additionally when probably the most is occurring. The Provins Rose Garden erupts into bloom with the nice and cozy climate. This is the place the well-known Rose of Provins comes from.
Check the agenda on-line to see what’s scheduled earlier than you go. The Medieval Festival of Provin takes place each June and attracts huge crowds as your complete city is immersed even deeper within the Middle Ages with road performers, particular occasions, and festivities. The Harvest Festival in August is one other historic occasion that focuses on bygone days with lots for households to take pleasure in.
You can go on the shoulder seasons in spring or fall, and most of the seasonal reveals are nonetheless occurring, however crowds are a lot lighter. We went on the primary day of their vacationer season, the ultimate Saturday in March, and it was a bit chilly however not crowded in any respect, so we had been in a position to benefit from the quiet cobblestone streets virtually to ourselves at occasions.
Christmas is one other glorious time to go to for his or her annual yuletide market.
Getting to Provins
Saint-Ayoul Church lit up at evening / picture credit score: JF Bénard
Provins is simple to achieve from Paris. Take the direct prepare from Gare de l’Est, leaving each hour, or, if it’s not working, you’ll have to take a prepare after which a bus. This is what we did, and it didn’t add on a lot time and was fairly straightforward to navigate with Google Maps.
Train and bus fare are low cost, however we’d bought a Navigo go for every of the 4 of us, so transportation was lined with the go. Here are some extra instructions on attending to Provins.
You’ll be dropped off proper by the tourism workplace. They have restrooms, maps, individuals who converse English, and even a present store. We picked up a memento right here as nicely to recollect our go to. I solely hope we will return sometime as a result of we weren’t fairly in a position to match all of it in inside 9 hours.
We totally loved our adventure-filled household day journey from Paris.
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