we were wondering if there are places worth checking out around Paris that we can visit leaving early in the morning to explore and head back at night?
Well there's Versailles, and Fontainebleu, and Giverny, and then if you want to use the TGV you can always check out Strasbourg and Avignon or Marseille, with a rental car, Normandy and the beaches or the Loire Valley. And of course, there is the incontournable La Defense !
I know this has come up before as well. However, even though too short a time, you can take the TGV and spend a lovely day in Dijon, returning to Paris at night.
Posts: 189 | Location: Philadelphia | Registered: 11 March 2007
Another vote for Giverny! We were there in May 2009. I have pages of photos from the trip if you look on the left sidebar of my blog (linked in my signature).
So many places, so little time. I'd vote for someplace that's really doable in one day, which I don't really think Normandy or the Loire is. How about Rouen, an easy train ride, if you want to visit another city, or Senlis and Chantilly, in Picardie, also an easy trip from Paris? Chartres is incomparable. Instead of Versailles, consider Vaux le Vicomte, near Melun. It's a bit of a shlep by public transportation, but beautiful, and the gardens are spectacular. It was Vaux that inspired Louis XIV to build Versailles--drove him nuts that his finance minister had such a spread.
We've done many of the above. But on January 3, we "trained" to the Channel, walked the snowy beaches at Deauville, and ate on a cafe facing La Manche. We visited the few shops which were open, and have a wonderful photo of a bookseller's cat! He (the cat's guardian!) was pleased to have American tourists who tried to speak French.
In season, Deauville is likely a zoo . . .
Moules!!!!
Posts: 164 | Location: Richmond, CA | Registered: 29 December 2006
Orleans (about 80 miles to the SW of Paris - Jeanne d'Arc's hometown, sort of a mini-Paris, plenty of museums, a university, lots of history and an historic district and a good selection of country-style restaurants) and the Chateau at Chambord (15 miles south of Orleans).
Posts: 738 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: 12 September 2006
Orleans is a good day trip from Paris, but Chambord is about an hour's drive from Orleans (30 miles on small roads through villages). You'd definitely need a car.
The city of Tours is also a day trip from Paris (by TGV), but you'd need a car once there if you want to see any Loire Valley châteaux.
I'd personally vote for Rouen if you want to see another city by train. It's called the city of 100 steeples, or the museum city. The historic center is very compact, and you can walk everywhere from the train station. The cathedral is worth the visit, as is the Beaux Arts museum. Be careful, though, about dinner. The last train from Rouen back to Paris seems to be at 8:59 p.m.
With the TGV you can be from the center of Paris to the center of Lyon in two hours. Lyon is a beautiful city (second after Paris) full of history and good restaurants. I am band new on this site, and I haven't checked if it's allowed to include a URL here. But I have a Squidoo lens about Lyon which would give you an idea of what to visit there. Let me know if you would like to see it!
Where is the FAQ link on the France page? I always have to hunt for the page. That might be why people simply post the same questions after looking for the FAQ and giving up.
Posts: 340 | Location: Waco, Texas USA | Registered: 31 January 2006
Dan, we have some FAQs in a topic permanently "pinned" to the top of the France forum here. The FAQs link to a number of threads where a frequently-asked question has been answered before. (Of course there is always new information to add...)
