"A fine day for outdoor fitness!"**

Sunday morning Danielle, Marianne and I set off in their car for a Provins, a medieval city just 1.5 hours outside of Paris. The drive there was absolutely beautiful, taking us through many small towns and the gorgeous French countryside. The weather was perfect for such an adventure, and we drove with all of the windows rolled down (pretty much my favorite way to travel). 

Note the sign on the building: "Provins"

En route to Provins!

The city from afar!

Provins was built at the beginning of the 12^th Century (in other words, it is very, very old). The fortified walls were built during the 13^th Century (also very old) and served as protection through periods of war. In addition to walking the medieval streets, the city is home to “fifty monuments of historic value” and we selected a few to visit during the afternoon.

Marianne chooses which sites we will visit OR she is plotting her assault on the town 

Our main destination was Caesar’s Tower (which I continuously referred to as Hamlet’s Tower… don’t ask me why), but to get to the there we needed to walk past cute shops and stalls, and a beautiful main square. We noted the best looking cafés and creperies, paused for a few pictures and continued on our way.

In front of one of the buildings on the Square

The main square

Marianne, Danielle, and me near the tower

We circled the tower and stopped in a church that had a very different feel from the churches in Copenhagen. One thing that was very notable was that it was freezing in comparison to the outside heat (which was actually a very nice break, though let me make it clear that I am certainly not complaining about the weather!).

Approaching the Tower from behind

Spring has arrived in Provins

We arrived at the base of the tower, paid an entrance fee and began the journey through the many corridors, freezing cold stone rooms, and up, up, up towards the peak of the main tower. Marianne and I were in stiches pretty much the whole way up, acting out elaborate scenes for photos and very much enjoying the bizarre displays inside.

Planning phase two of the assault 

At one of the first landings of the tower

This is what I will look like when I am 102 years old (I am a prisoner trapped inside the chambers).
This might just be the most terrifying photo that has ever been taken of me

This was one of the bizarre displays... it was a projected cartoon film with floating figures and VERY dramatic music. Marianne got up to join in the action and I snapped this gem 

With every landing we reached, the views of the surrounding city became more and more spectacular. The red roofs of the buildings, farmlands, and the bustling main square were quite picturesque. Finally, we reached the top, looked at the bells and the roofing, and then began the journey down.

Into the bell tower

View from the highest point of the Tower...

...and the other direction (this is the actual town of Provins)

Once we reached the streets again, we headed back in the direction of the main square. We stopped for crepes (and in my case an ice-cream) at a cute little street-side creperie.

SUCH GOOD homemade pistachio ice cream

Eventually we decided it was time to head back to the car. Before getting in, we wanted to walk along the top of the stone walls. It was very peaceful from up high and Marianne and I posed for several pictures.

One of the many houses we passed

Posing for a picture along the giant stone walls (it's kind of hard to see us, but we're there)

The view from one end of the wall

Marianne admires the view from the base of one stone staircase

She and I both slept on the way home, and once again, after a delicious, late dinner we fell happily to sleep, tired from the first real day of spring and sunshine. :-)

*NOTE: The title of this post is a reference to the daily declaration made by Marianne’s weather program on her tablet. Apparently after she recently updated the software, each and every day it evaluates whether the weather is appropriate for “outdoor fitness” (though she never asked it to). It says things like, “A poor day for outdoor fitness. It will be overcast and colder than you’d like.” We found this quite funny and commented frequently over the course of our three days whether it was in fact a fine/poor day for outdoor fitness.