day trips from paris
 

we have a few days in paris and we'd like to incorporate two or three day trips out of the city...train or car..doesnt matter..this will be mid feb 2014

there will be the three of us for a few days - husband and daughter and me

husband and i have been to the major sights in paris so wed like to take advantage of the time we can have together before he flies home for work and my daughter and i will have another five or so days exploring the city and doing the sights - eiffel the louvre versailles eurodisney etc
it will be cold im gathering with short days so where can we venture out to have a look at the countryside and still make it back to our city hotel?
we dont drink so not interested in vineyards
we love scenery
markets
historical sites
.
thanks for any suggestions

Here is a good post to get you started

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...from-paris.cfm

You won't have a car in Paris will you? I would stick to trains, they are super convenient and no worry about driving or parking ($$$$).

You may want to use the search function above to find more posts...there are tonnes on this topic.

No need car to visit a lot of special places around Paris. We visited by train the following (all of them at 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours bu train):

Vaux-le-vicomte - one of the most decorated palaces; when the King Louis XIV saw it, sent Fouquet (the owner) to the prison and ask to be built a palace bigger than VV (Versailles).

Reims - Episcopal palace

Chantilly - the castle of prince Conde; here is also the living horse museum

Fountainbleu - a beautiful royal palace

St Germain en Laye - the castle were Louis XIV was born; now here is National Archeological museum

Rambouillet - summer palace of the president of France

Malmaison - the residence of Josephine

Vincennse - one of the biggest and best preserved castles in Europe. Here some kings were born; in time, it was transformmed in porcelain manufacture, then prison.Sevres

Rouen

Chartres - with its magnificent cathedral , old small houses and something special - Picasette

Sevres - splendid porcelain collections

We have done Reims, Chantilly, Maisons Lafitte (racetrack), and Brussels for day trips. The Brussels trip of course was a longer day trip, but the train was only 90 minutes as I recall. In Reims we did a champagne tasting, but you could skip that. Chantilly was a trip to the racecourse, but there is the castle and town to walk around in. Maisons Lafitte was also a racecourse visit with a pleasant looking town, but not really a recommendation for a day trip if you don't want to go to the track. We will be going on a daytrip to Rouen in October. It's an hour train ride from Paris.

Most of the day trips are well covered above. "paris to the Past" is a good book that discusses the history of many of the sites suggested above. It is a book of day trips by train and would be a good guide.

We are taking a day trip to Strasbourg in December for the church, La Petite France and the Christmas markets....about 2.5 hours by TGV.

wow! great tips..thank you so much!
ill follow them all up

oh and how could i forget..are there any zoos that that are worth visiting around Paris...any reserves or birdparks?
wed love to see some european animals

Not exactly a day-trip...more like a half-day, but St. Denis Basilica is in some ways (IMHO) as good or better than Notre Dame. It's just a ~30 min Metro ride from central Paris.

SS

Most any zoo you might want to visit will likely be filled with exotic animals not native to Europe. I can't think of any near Paris that focus on strictly European animals. But if any zoo or bird park/reserve will do then suggestions can be given.

I love St Denis!

oh thanks so much for all the tips..ill write all these down into my travel diary and do a bit more research closer to the time...i know so little of france so i really must do some reading!