Every design for Troyes

Troyes stands on the Seine, out in the chalky plain of Champagne, with Paris to the north-west and the Orient Forest Regional Natural Park close by. The river made it a crossroads long ago: as Augustobona Tricassium it sat at the hub of Roman highways, the Via Agrippa above all, and later the Champagne fairs drew merchants from all over Christendom.

Its signature is the half-timbered house. Rebuilt after a great fire in the sixteenth century, the old town keeps one of the largest groups of such houses anywhere, alongside Gothic churches, a cathedral and an unusual wealth of stained glass, which the Cité du Vitrail now gathers and explains. The Maison dite du Dauphin and the Hôtel de Vauluisant - Musée du Vauluisant sit among the old lanes. Textiles kept the town busy until the 1960s; today it is known as the European capital of factory outlets, and its tables are known for andouillette.

If Troyes is yours, you know those timber-framed lanes without a map. Here is one anyway, to carry with you.