Biking through the Brie to Provins

[frenchmystiquetour]

If you like biking through rural, agricultural countryside dotted with centuries old villages and on relatively flat and gently rolling terrain then this bike trip awaits you. And if you're not a biker you will enjoy it just as much by car (well, almost as much – there's no substitute for the direct interaction with your surroundings the bike alllows). I usually plan my longer bike trips around the weather and I picked a winner for this day. Clear blue skies with temps around 27 degrees celsius and a light breeze, strong enough to be cooling but not so strong as to create a headwind.

On this day I rode through the area known as The Brie, as in the famous cheese which takes its name from this region. It is a large plain east of Paris generally situated between the valley of The Marne River in the north and The Seine River in the south and covering an area of roughly 5,000KM. It is geographically divided into 2 regions with the Haute-Brie (High Brie) north near Meaux and Basse-Brie (Low Brie) south near Provins. While it certainly isn't the most beautiful region of France that doesn't mean it's not pretty. It is quiet, tranquil and rural and a nice place that is close by if you sometimes seek to escape from the heaving sea of humanity in and around Paris. Most of what you will see are vast expanses of agricultural fields with lots of wheat, corn, sugar beets and other leafy green plants whose names remain unknown to me due to my limited knowledge in the scientific field of ''leafy green plants''. Or perhaps I just don't eat enough vegetables.

Of course you need milk to make cheese and the eastern half of the region is primarily where the cows are located. But I'm just dealing with the part between Brie Comte Robert and the medieval city of Provins in this report and it is pretty flat for the most part with slightly more hilly terrain near Provins. It is occasionally punctuated by patches of forest and the ever present church steeple poking above the horizon. Exploring this region will help you undertand why France is referred to as The Breadbasket of Europe.

Now for the ride. I had Mrs. Mystique drop me off with my bike in a small town east of Brie Comte Robert called Coubert. I had mapped out a rough route the night before that would take me through lots of small villages. Of course it was a rough route since I had no idea how long it was going to take me to reach Provins. Visiting the medieval city of Provins was going to be the big reward waiting at the end of the ride. The catch was that I had to be at the train station in Provins by 6:45 to catch the last train back to Paris. I had scanned and printed areas of Michelin maps to bring with me to guide me throughout my ride. The plan was to stay on the white roads as much as possible since these have the least amount of traffic and generally connect villages as opposed to being main thoroughfares between major regional destinations.

Starting in Coubert I headed south towards the town of Soignolles.



This is a pretty typical village of the region. A church, tiny shopping area and collection of old houses in the village center with more recent development on the outskirts. Most of the regional villages have historical roots at least as far back as medieval times and often further so there is always something old to see no matter where you go. The oldest existing structure is usually the church and often times that is the only object of great photographic interest. I mean there's lots of individual objects such as a window with purple shutters adorned with a flowers planter, run down barns, rustic stone walls, ivy covered facades and all kinds of other pretty details. You can find all the little details if you do the ride yourself, and there are plenty of these types of subjects for the photographically interested. But I'm giving you the big picture, as in, this is what is in front of you.

Leaving Soignolles I encounter the first of many vaste expanses of agriculture.





Here's the church in the tiny village of Champdeuil.



Here's the approach to Crisenoy.



View behind the handlebars.

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As you can see, I am entering Fouju.



And of course, they have a church.



Next up is the town of Blandy, also known as Blandy Les Tours (as printed on the road sign).



This was sort of a destination I had planned into the route as it has a wonderful medieval castle principally dating from the 13th and 14th centuries with later periods of alteration, destruction and eventual renovation of what was able to be preserved. It fits ones image of a medieval castle with high walls and towers and surrounded by a moat.

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For eons before the appearance of the Maytag man this is what the cutting edge of laundry technology looked like.




I walked up to the castle entrance to get a peek inside. It is open to the public and for a small admission you can explore the castle. Guided tours are available. The day I was here there happened to be a car show inside the castle walls featuring expensive sports cars.

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If modern expensive sports cars weren't your thing there was also a performance of a traditional style one man band accompanied by acrobats including a male pole dancer!



As I was walking away from the covered entry of the castle a pigeon in the rafters above decided to heed the call of nature and let loose with what in medieval times would have been considered a precious gift of fertilizer. Today we know this ancient gift as bird turd and luckily it just missed me. But it didn't miss making a direct hit on the top of the head of the guy behind me. I only mention this because it's funny and it's funny because it didn't happen to me. Sorry, I don't have a photo (what was I gonna say ''Hey mister, before you wipe that off do you mind if I get a photo? Just hold still and try to look embarrassed and disgusted. I want to capture you in the moment. I promise, I won't show this to anybody.'').

Having enjoyed the various forms of entertainment at the castle, I went to visit the church.



Little did I know there would be more entertainment here. See all those sign boards in the previous photo? They were full of cartoons that seemed to be making jokes about religion. Not poking fun at religion, just sort of having a good time with it.



For non-French speakers, the religious woman knocking on the guys door is saying ''Jesus is coming back'' and the man watching soccer on TV is saying ''Couldn't he wait until the end of the match?''

Having now been fully entertained it was time to move on. Here's my last view of Blandy.



Of course, none of these rural towns would have existed if there wasn't a nearby source of water and here is a picture of the spring which probably allowed for the existence of Blandy.

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Back to the road.







Remember all the sports cars I saw at the castle? Well, the show must have ended and they were now free to do what they do best, and that's driving really fast.



Next up is Champeaux.

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Inside the church in Champeaux I noticed the same cartoon boards I had seen in the church in Blandy. I figured out what was happening and that is that a cartoonist was exhibiting his works in various churches throughout the region. Here's an explanation of the exhibit.



It says: ''Today we are the poorest country in Europe when it comes to religious culture. Let's accept to start over from scratch and get back to what is essential. This is the goal of this modest exhibition, which is brightened by the humor of Piem (the cartoonist). This exhibition can be interactive. You will find all the necessary indications to reach a correspondant''.

Okay, that last sentence sounds a little strange because I can't figure out a good translation so I just did it word by word.

A few cartoons.



The above says ''Jesus of Nazareth shares all our pain.''



Jesus asks for 1 bread and 1 fish and the woman asks for how many people.


And a couple final photos of Champeaux.

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Next town, Saint Méry.













Well, that was certainly just a charming little village. Time to leave Saint Méry.



Here are some more of those leafy green plants I can't identify.

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Approaching Bombon.





Of course, there is always a church.



Leaving Bombon, on my map I noticed an attraction marked as Fief des Epoisses. Had no idea what it was but if they put it on the map it must be worth it. Let's check it out. Here it is in the distance.



And up close.



When I got home I googled the name to see what this place was all about. Here's what their website told me:

Its name comes from the old French word “espesse” which means “thickness”, a dense forest. One can easily imagine the Fief, at the time, with its tower and crenels dominating the dense thickets, completely surrounded by a vast forest. Its origins go back very far ; it was cited for the first time in 1285, in the Partition Charter of the Viscount de Melun, between the two brothers Adam and Jean ; Jean’s share included the rent and income for the Epoisses.

Learning that this place was once surrounded by a dense forest gives one the indication as to just how much tree cutting has occurred in this region over the last 800 years. Today it is being used as a business conference center.

Time for a little rest under a nice shady tree.

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Back to the road.





Perhaps you've committed some sort of felony offense and need a place to lay low for a while. This Gîte Rural is in the middle of nowhere and I'm pretty sure no one would ever think of looking for you here.



More open road.



Approaching Lady.





Yup, another church.



Time to leave Lady.

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And on to Saint Ouen en Brie.











The countryside just outside town.



At this point I had to make a choice. I was trying to stick to the small white roads as much as possible, with a couple of yellow roads, but I was trying to avoid the red roads since these have the most traffic but it was still a long way to Provins. The red road was quicker for a short stretch and traffic looked pretty light so I went for it.



There was even a breakdown lane and the road had nice smooth pavement so it wasn't a bad choice.

I briefly passed through the town of Fontenailles.



The church.



And two minutes later I was done with Fontenailles.

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Next town is Nangis. It's larger than the other nearby towns and is ringed on the edges by ugly commercial and industrial use.



But once you move past that you reach the old town in the middle.











Out of Nangis and into the country.

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Into the town of Rampillon.



They have a really nice church.



And a wonderful sculpted 14th century portal.













Exiting Rampillon.

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And into Meigneux.









Out of Meigneux and back on the road.



The battle of the house vs. nature. Nature appears to be winning.





The small hamlet of Laval.



Coming out of one of thick patches of forest.

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And arriving at the outskirts of Donnemarie-Dontilly.



Arriving in town.









²

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Cloisters next to the church.







They've got two churches.



Back to the road.





Sign says it all.







Unlike the other villages, the church of Paroy is located outside the town. I imagine it was more convenient to put the church near the fields where the peasants probably spent most of their time. In college I was a geography major with a concentration in Business Location. In any business strategy it's always about locating centrally in your target market. As if it wasn't tedious enough toiling all day in the fields now there was no easy way to skip church either.







There really wasn't much to see in Paroy, except the signs that tell you when you enter and when you leave.

[frenchmystiquetour]

It was getting late in the day and I was still about 13 or 14km from Provins so there was no more time to take the white roads. The direct road was a red road, the D403, and I had to take that for the rest of the way. Traffic was minimal so at least that wasn't a worry.







For the rest of the way to Provins there was really nothing of highly scenic interest along the road. I woud have liked to explore some of the other little villages just outside Provins but my train was at 6:45 and it was now about 5:00 with ground to cover. I put the camera away, put my head down and kept pedaling.



Provins is an excellent example of a medieval town if you are seeking that lords and ladies type atmosphere. Definitely a place to consider if you are looking for an interesting day trip outside of Paris. The old town is atop a hill with large portions of intact ramparts, a donjon (tower), narrow cobbled streets and many wobbly looking half timbered houses. Of course it's touristy with lots of the usual tourist souvenir items but I never let that stop me from enjoying such lovely places. But it's only enough tourism to make it feel lively, not crowded. I rather like it.



There was a pottery market the day I was there.

[frenchmystiquetour]

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The ''new town'' is located at the foot of the hill below the old town.





It was 6:20 now and my train was leaving in 25 minutes so I had to be on my way. I wish I had about another hour or two to keep poking around as I was in the mood for window shopping and maybe finding a nice cafe to relax in and ponder the days journey. I located the train station and was aware I would have to buy my ticket from a machine, since no one would be at the ticket counter on a Sunday evening. Found the ticket machine but had forgotten to consider that most of these things take credit cards and Navigo passes with the only money option being coins. Of course all I had were bills so I had to dash back into town and buy a bottle of water to make change. Just letting you know so you remember to bring lots of coin money with you. The fare back to Paris was 10.50 euros and took about 1-1/2 hours. I fell asleep about 20 minutes into the ride and didn't wake up until we pulled into Gare de l'Est.

I started pedaling a little before 11:00 in the morning so I did all of this journey in a little over 7-1/2 hours and must have covered about 70 or 80 km. I did not have time for a sit down lunch so just grabbed a sandwich and a pastry on the way. There are still lots of little towns I'd like to explore in this area but there is only so much time in a day and I have only so much energy. Maybe I'll come back someday but usually I like to keep finding uncharted territory. Until the next biking adventure to who knows where I bid you all farewell.

[Shoesy]

Yes, you definitely selected the perfect day for your bike ride!

Provins has been suggested many times as a good place for a day trip, and now I know why. It's very charming according to your photos, and it wouldn't bother me that it's touristy. That must have been quite a challenge for you knowing that you had to make the last train back to Paris. After all that biking, it would have been nice if you could have spent some more relaxing moments there.

Merci and an exalt for another wonderful tour. Reading and seeing this has been a lovely way to spend my waking hours. BTW, the names of all the towns were unfamiliar to me.

[Jody]

Thanks you so much for this tour! Darcy, Melj and I are planning on visiting Provins with our Paris friend, Michael Osman in October. You've given us a nice entree before the main course!