last saturday

I would be very remiss if I didn't talk about what a wonderful day we had on Saturday. What a gorgeous day it was! Blue skies, warm temperatures, and a fantastic day to wander around town.

We started off at lunchtime to go to a favorite kebab place. I was surprised that they didn't have their tables set up for dining outside, like a lot of other places had, but I was craving kebab, so we decided to eat inside. We were shocked when we were invited to find a place downstairs, and discovered our favorite take-away place wasn't a take-away place at all, but a full fledged restaurant! For a menu of less than 10 euros, we ate like kings! I started with an entree that was exactly like tzatziki, but with a different name, and was so delicious I had to restrain myself from licking the plate. We both had a doner kebab plate, which had the most food I've ever seen presented on one plate in France. A generous portion of kebab meat lay on a bed of couscous, surrounded by salad and fries. Neither one of us could finish, and I ended up putting the wonderful pita-like bread in my purse to carry home (which was Steph's idea)! We were so full we couldn't finish desert, which Steph ended up putting in his bag to carry home. We are really hoping we can get some folks together during the spring break to come enjoy this little treasure we discovered!

We waddled out of the restaurant and into the sunshine. Good thing we had planned a walk around town! First we stopped at FNAC, which was just around the corner, just for a little peek, and then off to the downtown area. It looked like all of Troyes was out in force to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Steph told me that this area will be streaming with tourists during the height of summer, but it seemed to me that this first beautiful Saturday of the year was reserved just for us locals.

During our wandering, we happened upon the Maison de l'Outil, or House of Tools, which is a museum of common tools used as far back as the 17th century. As something of a history buff, I enjoyed it, particularly the pictures from the turn of the 20th century situated near the tools they were associated with, but if that sounds boring to you, you might be interested to visit just for the amazing building the museum is housed in. It is a three-story (two-story, for you Europeans) half-timbered building with a large courtyard in the middle, and it has been restored beautifully. I found my mind wandering, wondering what this building was in the past and who lived there.

After an hour of marveling at the past, we stepped back into the sunshine and headed back to the center of town. We stopped at a cafe in front of the Mairie, or Town Hall, to sit in the shade and have a cool drink while we watched the world go by before wandering back home.