QuinnAdams

Havng lived there for a year at age 4 -- more years than I care to count - I am eager to take a day trip while we are in Paris toward the end of December. I think it's only about a 20 minute ride although trying to figure out how by looking online has completely confused me. Any recommendations for cafes or restaurants there? We will probably see the Chateau while we are there -- anything else one should in particular seek out?
Thanks,

QuinnAdams

parisian

I cannot help you for what to see and where to eat, but the best way to go there is to take the RER A line from Paris to either Poissy or Cergy. There is a stop in Maisons-Laffitte. Please check before going into the train that it stops there (some trains do not stop at all the stations)

QuinnAdams

Merci beaucoup, parisian! I was geting very confused looking at trip plans online and you have solved the issue in a few lines. Thanks!!!

Travelnut

You can print a timetable for RER-A if you go to:
www.ratp.com
and click on "Horaires" on the left.
From there, choose RER-A and use the drop-downs to get timetables(separate ones for weekdays vs. weekends).

mlaffitte

This post is too late to help with the original request, but I wanted to chime in with some information about Maisons Laffitte. It is a lovely, quiet suburb of about 22,000 people located in a wide bend of the Seine, bordering the St Germain Forest to the northwest of Paris. Although it's just 20 minutes on the RER from the Arc de Triomphe, not many tourists go there -- and for that matter not many Parisians do either. That's a pity, because it's a very nice place to visit, although not for the reasons the Tourist Office will give you. Yes, it has a lovely Mansard chateau, but the interior doesn't hold a candle to Versailles, Chantilly, etc. It also has a thoroughbred racetrack, but there are only a few races a month, and the track is not convenient to public transportation.

In my opinion there are two good reasons to visit Maisons Laffitte. The first is food (always a subject dear to my heart!) Just a few steps from the train station, the main street, Avenue Longueil, is lined with wonderful shops: traiteurs, boulangers, patissiers, fromagers, bouchers. There is an amazing store called l'Epicerie de Longueil, which stocks every kind of gourmet food you can imagine and has a vast wine cellar. (It is like walking into a time warp: the average age of the staff is over 60, and they don't take credit cards.) On Saturday and Wednesday mornings there is an exceptionally nice open-air market a few blocks from the train station. Maisons Laffitte also has a Michelin-starred restaurant, Tastevin, a 5-minute walk from the station down avenue Longueil.

Despite my dismissive words about the racetrack,the other reason to visit Maisons Laffitte is horses. In fact, it is known as "La Cite du Cheval." There are dozens of stables in the section of town known as Le Parc, which is crisscrossed by riding trails laid out in a sort of hub-and-spoke pattern. It's a lovely place to take a walk and admire some of the beautiful old homes. Especially on Saturdays, you can stop into stables like the Poney Club on avenue Foy and watch kids taking riding lessons.

A possible Maisons Laffitte itinerary: Take the RER out from Paris on Saturday morning, go to the market and then the food shops on avenue Longueil (careful, they all close for about 2 hours at lunchtime!) and then either make yourself a picnic from your food purchases, or stop into one of the simpler restaurants along the main street, or, splurge on a Michelin-starred lunch at Le Tastevin. Then burn off some of the calories with a nice long walk through Le Parc.

In case anyone is wondering, I do not have any business or commercial interest in Maisons Laffitte -- it's just a place I love -- so much that I used it as my login name!

opaldog

I am so happy that I found this post. We will be in Paris early October and are planning a visit to Maisons Lafitte for the racetrack. I love the itinerary and plan to head out in the the morning from Paris and do the market and have a picnic lunch, weather permitting. Now I have to find a map to figure out how to walk to the racetrack. If you have any info regarding this, I 'd love to hear it.

Ricardo_215

Thanks for this. Even though it's 4½ years since the last post! 3 of us are staying in a mobile home on a campsite in Maisons Lafitte in May with www.eurocamp.com . It's only for one night on our way further east and south, but it's nice to get some tips for things to see without having to go into the city centre.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I know it's old too but wow, what an awesome post by mlafitte. This is exactly the kind of day trip people should do from Paris and most people never will.