The next stop on our trip is Troyes (read: twaaah, like the French 'trois' for 'three'). Troyes is a small (pop: ~60000), charming city in the heart of the champagne and Grand Est regions of France.
Famous for its cute, narrow streets (Les ruelles) and it's wooden façades, Troyes is a perfect day trip from some of it's larger neighbors, like Strasbourg, Luxembourg or Dijon.
Historically Troyes has been a centre for the French textile industry. More dramatically, Troyes has developed a well-deserved reputation for the manufacturing of stained glass; for churches originally, but now it's something of an old-meets-new art form.
A more expressly modern innovation of Troyes is it's shopping. This small city has become one of Europe's go-to areas for outlet malls! There's several big ones scattered around the city carrying everything from big fashion brands, to kitchen and homeware, to sports equipment, to food and wine.
And, of course, like other locations in France, Troyes is known for it's fabulous food! Here you will find a selection of fine dishes, fish from the river (the Seine - yup, the same that flows through Paris), delicious, tender beef, sausages, fine cheeses and - what else from the namesake region? - delicate, flavourful bottles of champagne!
So how about it? Is Troyes on your list? I can recommend it!
Next stop, we'll leave the Seine and head to the Loire, as we hit up Blois!