From Paris to Romilly: a French journey beyond the tourist map
… off the tourist track … right into rural Romilly …
There is a special stillness you only find when you leave Paris behind.
Recently, I boarded a regional train in Paris and headed north, away from Parisian boulevards and into the heart of the French countryside. My destination? Romilly: a town not found on most tourist itineraries, but one where an aunt lives, and at 90 years old, she no longer drives. So, after the 90-minute train journey, I walk for 40 minutes from the station to her house, through barley fields and rural farms in the late afternoon light.
The train ride itself is a small act of time travel. As the urban sprawl gives way to open landscapes, I see garden plots, sheep grazing, and rows of fruit trees. There is no glitzy souvenir shop waiting at the other end, just a stop and nothing else except a shelter that looks like a bus-stop.
And then, the walk – a lovely nature walk when it’s not in the dark of night or raining. This time, the light was good and the pathway was visible. The signposts are not always visible though; they are faded, fallen into the bushes, or bent out of shape.
I follow the country road, bordered by tall grasses with nothing but the sound of my own footsteps and the occasional horse neighing in the distance. This in-between space, between train station and a beer at my destination, helps me notice nature again.
I take photos — of barley rippling like sea waves, of an old barn leaning slightly to the right, of the gold-tipped clouds above the horizon.
Romilly is not Paris – it’s a quieter corner of rural France, with fresh air and fewer, a lot fewer, tourists.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Related article (and more photos): A brief departure from Paris: a train trip to rural Romilly.
Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me
More Paris articles are in my Paris website The Paris Residences of James Joyce
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