Enjoying the sights of Joigny

On Thursday, I took all the kids to Joigny for a little sight seeing.  Joigny is the small town about 10 miles from where we are staying, where we catch the train to Paris.  We haven't done any real sight seeing here yet.  A little history of Joigny from the Tourism Office.


Joigny is strategically located on an outcrop of the Orthe forest plateau, overlooking the Yonne River, a navigable waterway.  This is why as early as the end of the 10th century, a first castle was built.  At the foot of this fortification, a market town began to grow, soon to be protected by a high wall the line of which is still recognizable today.  The Saint Jean parish church was built in the 11th century.  In 1530, a terrible fire laid waste to the town.  Thanks to the wealth derived from the wine trade, the town rapidly recovered from this ordeal, with numerous houses of the 16th century adorned with sculpted wooden panels still surviving today.

On the bridge, leading into the old part of town.

As we arrived in Joigny, it was lunch time, so we decided to find a place to eat.  We found this cute little place.

After reviewing the menu, we all decided to have the Plat du Jour, which the owner had explained to me in French.  All I understood from her description was petite legumes (little vegetables) and porc (pork).  Everyone was game to try it.  It turned out to be this:

Hard to tell, but it's little meatballs (pork and veal), sitting on top of three different veggies (squash, potato & tomato) with a tomato sauce and rice.  It was actually quite tasty and the kids almost all cleaned their plates.  I thought I had ordered dessert as well, but when the owner brought our bill, we figured it was time to go.  We could find dessert later.

Off we went.  Up the hill, to see the church and explore the old city.

The church was beautiful.

Next to the church was the chateau of the Gondi family, likely built between 1569 and 1608.

We did a little walking tour and saw a few more sights, then decided to head down the hill to find a treat.  Ethan wanted me to get a shot of him "flying" on the steep stairs.

We found a patisserie and bought these:

And sat along the river to enjoy them.

The kids then wanted me to try to capture them all "flying" at once.  Here's how that went.

Success at last!!!