Troyes, France - June 7, 2011

Located on the river Seine about 93 miles southeast of Paris and sporting numerous 16th century half-timbered houses, Troyes has been around since the Roman times. Known then as Augustobona Tricassium, Troyes is today the capital of the Aube department in north-central France and stands at the hub of highways leading to Reims, Langres (and eventually Milan), Poitiers, Autun and Orléans.
Late in the Roman cycle the settlement atrophied and became known simply as Tricassae, the origin of French Troyes from the number three. Interesting illustrated history here.
Louis the Stammerer received the imperial crown from the hands of Pope John VIII in 878  at Troyes and at the end of the ninth century the Counts of Champagne chose Troyes as their capital which it remained until the Revolution. During the Middle Ages, it was an important trading town and the concept of troy weight used today in gold trading was born here. Click for more pictures.