cindylo

Any advise for a day trip from Paris (other than typical tourist attractions). We would like to experience a small town within a few hours train/bus ride from Paris. No specific interests, just looking for a picturesque, walking town, to get a feel of life outside of Paris. Thanks again.

degas

Rouen is a good daytrip from Paris. It has a wonderful old town section with many half-timbered buildings, the site where Saint Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, an outstanding cathedral and a beautiful park along the Seine River.

Underhill

I would too have recommended Rouen, but our recent not-good visit there leads me to suggest somewhere else. How about Honfleur, a picturesque small fishing village? Or Les Andelys, about an hour by car (or other transport) from Paris, a charming town on the banks of the Seine. If you want to stay overnight, La Chaîne d'Or is excellent for lodging and restaurant.

degas

Okay, Underhill, give us the skinny on your bad trip. I expect it would have to be pretty bad for it to turn you off.

Underhill

I'm working on Normandy, Day Two right now. It wasn't really Rouen's fault, but the memory lingers.

Underhill

Cindylo,

If Les Andelys interests you, see my report Normandy: Day One either here or at the bonjourparis.com site (Trip Reports forum).

ira

Hi cindy,

You might want to consider Dijon or Beaune.

ira

Here's a post from another Foforite:

"Conflans St. Honorine, where the Seine and Oise Rivers come together northwest of Paris. It's a quaint little town with perhaps hundreds of barges as the whole town seems to be inhabited by barge drivers and many live in converted barges docked five and six deep along the promenade which runs the entire length of town. ?.we stopped at a simple little cafe called "Le Bijou Bar" (great food, inexpensive)."

cigalechanta

oh, underhill sorry about Rouen, like Degas tell us why. We loved our day there.

Chatters

Definitely recommend Bourges, if anything to visit the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne- 12th century, amazing excellent example of Gothic architecture, stunning medieval stained-glass windows. The Cathedral is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the town in its own is lovely with narrow cobblestone streets, timbered houses, and just wonderful restaurants. Highly recommend it.

DanM

I love Bayeux. I would move there if I could and could afford to live the way I do when I visit. One would need a car to see the sights in the area.

jay

How about Fontainbleu

laverendrye

How about Senlis or Provins?

24krose

Try Chartres. It's a short train ride outside Paris, and you can't miss the Cathedral--it's like it's floating above the city. That's where they get the color Chartres Blue from. Cathedral well worth it. Explore the streets around the Cathedral and back river.

Also--Try Chateau Fountainbleau. Paris Vision or Cityrama have day trips outside Paris. I did Fontainbleau by train and then you had to take a bus to the Chateau. They had harpsicord music playing in one of the rooms and I still remember it to this day.

Another great one is Versailles. Take the train and get off at the LAST stop. (I think train is RER) Make sure you see all 21 fountains--WELL worth it. You won't be disappointed.

DanM

Chartres is nice. I went there for the fifth time in July, and the streets around (not immediately near) the cathedral were torn up. The work detracted from the beauty of the town some what. None the less, it is a great day trip from Paris.

PalQ

All of the above suggestions are great places - you can't go wrong. I recommend Chartres because it's not far (about an hour by train) and it has what is billed as the world's greatest Gothic cathedral, known for its stunning stained-glass windows. It's also a sweet regional town stuffed with old churches, eateries, a pedestrian shopping center and a neat riverside walk taking you back to medieval times by the looks of the buildings lining it. The tourist office has casette walking tours of town and Malcolm Miller's tours of the cathedral are legendary as is crotchety Miller ( a couple times a day; look for sign in church. Chartres train station is within eyeshot of the cathedral and town center, making this an easy day trip. An unusual Chartres and rarely visiting site is the home of Picassiette, a street cleaner who for several decades collected broken glass and detritus off the streets and then fashioned them into weird sculptures that now take up most of his garden and house. Picassiette (sp) was not his real name but was a mocking name applied to him by local kids, being a take off on the femanized form of Picasso. The joke is on the kids, however and Picassiette is now widely acclaimed in the Art Brut or art naive genre. The house is about a mile from the town center and for most folks i don't recommend making the trek, but something for a special interest. Anyway be sure to get out of Paris as these regional towns are the essence of France whereas Paris for most tourists is a Paris full of foreign tourists!

Michael

I visited Conflans in early July. The description previously posted is an exaggeration. There are only a couple of dozen barges, and the paucity of barge traffic on the Seine emphasizes the fact that Conflans is no longer what it was in the past. A pleasant town, but its current connection to barging is maintained mainly for tourism.

I would recommend Troyes with its cathedral and 19th cent. tool museum.

PalQ

Regards the above statement about Conflans and barging. I just visited Conflans a few weeks ago and there were dozens of barges tied up here, but if you didn't walk to the confluence of the Seine and Oise at the eastern end of town you'd miss most of them as many more were tied up on the Oise than the Seine. Though certainly down, barges are still a prominent part of town life.

Morganne

Dear Cindy!

Rennes is at about 2 hours by train from Paris( train station: Paris Montparnasse and there are trains about each hour!). This city is a Britan and if you want to see something picturesque, you will! There is the Parliament of Britan to see, The Thabor Garden, the Theater...And if you like eating, you can taste all the Britan specialities: crêpes, kouign aman, far breton, cidre( a drink), chouchen, caramels au beuree salé!!! So, do not hesitate anymore, you can discover a lot of new things going there!Have a look at this: http://www.bretagne35.com/scripts/uk...es.htm!!!Enjoy your trip!

Underhill

Rennes is not a city I would categorize as charming. Interesting, yes; historic, yes; but charming, no. Most large cities aren't charming, for that matter, and the OP asked for a picturesque small town.