mez05

Hello

We are spending 9 nights in Paris at the end of July. It would be nice to make one or two day trips (by public transport) in that time to get out of the city. BUT we are not interested in visiting fancy chateaux, museums or cathedrals. I was thinking more along the lines of quaint French villages, walks in the sunshine, maybe a farmer's market and a nice picnic. Any suggestions? I have heard Senlis is nice, but not sure it is worth the difficult public transport co-ordination - any comments from anyone who has made it there by public transport? I have also read the glowing reviews of Giverny and was wondering whether Giverny and Vernon would be a nice place to visit, for people who aren't actually that interested in Monet? (I know, I know, we are philistines, but humour me!)

Thanks!

Mez

elaine

see this other current thread in the same vein

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34636165

rex

Vernon, or Gisors...

Best wishes,

Rex

ira

Hi m,

This from another poster:

Joinville
Veteran Parisian travelers looking for an off-the-beaten tourist path part of Paris can hop RER A to the Joinville-le-Pont station (about 20 min from Gare de Lyon) and do a lovely walk from there along the tranquil and barge-ful Marne River. Walking paths go pretty much on both sides of the river but from the station go along the north/west side of the river and soon you'll be in an area of old quaint stone houses - some of the most unique houses I've seen in Paris, in a kind of gingerbread style - fanciful, whimsical dating from the turn of the centry when this part of the Marne was a favorite with artists who flocked here to eat in its guinguettes, few of which exist today. But you can walk along the Marne for about two miles until you come to another RER station, line E station at Nogent, to return to Paris. Joinville itself is known for its canal tunnel where barges avoid a large loop in the Marne and use a lengthy tunnel to cut over towards the junction with the Seine. Joinville is a pleasant suburb with the usual coterie of cafes, etc. Sunday market sprawls over many streets.
Guignettes (Café’s w/music and dancing)
Chez Gegene (Guinguette Dancing) 162bis quai de Polangis - Allée des Guinguettes 01.48.83.29.43 Saturday 21-02:30 dinner and dancing 38E Sundays from 12-19:00 45E lunch and dancing (drinks included)

Le Petit Robinson 164, quai de Polangis 01.48.89.04.39 Closed Tuesdays. Welcome until 11 pm. ..tea-dancing, Fri, Sat, Sun afternoons and dinner-dancing with orchestra Fridays and Saturdays. The-dansant from 11-16 euro and diner-dansant from 33 to 37.5 euro."
La Goulue 17 Quai Gabriel Peri 01.48.83.21.77 Fax : 01 48 83 08 44
Very nice fin-de-siecle restaurant Dancing on weekends.

RonZ

Very easy to get to Senlis. Train to Chantilly, then a bus right there at the station.

cooncat

We loved Auvers-sur-Oise, about an hour northwest of Paris by train. BEAUTIFUL village, if that's what you're after. Not much else to do there...except visit many of the places Van Gogh painted, and where he killed himself...and where he and brother theo are buried. There are some small museums there you should see, though, Dr. Gachet's house, an interactive impressionist museum - but these are small and quick and easy to go thru. Even philistines would love it. ;-)
There are paths along the river here, too. Good luck. No matter what you choose, you cannot go wrong! Can I come?

Intrepid1

Cooncat,
Thanks for that information (we will be in France next month).

elmothehobo

I'd have to say Reims, France. Its a city of 100'000 people. Don't let this turn you away. It is the champagne capitol of the world (with it's sister city Epernay). This is THE perfect day trip from Paris. You can tour wine chateaux (not castles, but more like wineries, the vineyards, wine tasting, etc...) Some of the wineries are almost like miniture theme parks, except for adults, offering underground rides through massive caves and above ground tours of some of the nicest scenery in France. Reims can be reached on an hourly basis from Paris Est train station. Its about an hour and half ride and it will cost you up to 30 Euros, but it is ABSOLUTELY worth it.

If you have any questions please email me about it (I lived there for a while and just visited)

Cheers

mez05

Thank you everyone! I am particularly taken by the joinville-le-pont and auvers-sur-oise ideas. The guide books seem to focus so much on the chateuax and "must see" type sites when talking about Paris day trips but it is a taste of the French village atmosphere, and the break from the city that we would looking for.

I am also glad to hear Senlis is not so hard to get to by public transport. It has got wonderful posts on this forum and others. I think I read somewhere someone had difficulties finding the bus and that made me anxious.

Now I just have to decide which one!

Gretchen

There was a long thread a while back about Conflans for a Sunday day trip. It is on the Seine as I recall, and it was fun to watch the barge traffic from the cafes. You might do a search for it.

Underhill

Barbizon is a lovely village; most of the Impressionists painted there, and you will see why.

Indygirl2

Mex, would you mind letting us know what you ultimately decide to do? I'd love to hear a report. I'm going to Paris for the second time in September and am considering an "off the beaten track" day trip as well. I too don't have an overwhelming desire to go any of the "usual suspects."

Happy travels,

Kate

Christina

I think Auvers-sur-Oise is a great idea. There are a couple small museums there, but they aren't the typical big kind that you probably mean, so you might enjoy them, anyway (ie, Van Gogh's house which is just a very small cottage where he stayed), and there is a chateau with a really nice audio-visual display on the hisotry of Impressionism which I quite enjoyed. Aside from that, it's a pleasant and attractive village to walk around.

I wouldn't go to Giverny/Vernon with no Monet interest.

I could also recommend Moret-sur-Loing, which is right on the rail line not far from Fontainebleau It's a small village (12th century Medieval) where the painter Alfred Sisley was born, but a lot of French people go there for a day trip. There weren't a lot of other nationality tourists when I was there. It has a very pretty river with mill,s willow trees and parks, and is just a small town to walk through. Again, there are only a couple very small museums or churches of interest, but they are rather endearing in their small-town museum quaintness. There is some building there where some famous person stayed when passing through (Napoleon? I can't recall).
http://www.ville-moret-sur-loing.fr

It's a very pretty village, for the most part, I just walked from the train station, which was about a mile.

cooncat

I would add that the impressionist museum, located in the chateau, is open everyday (at least weekdays), but the restaurant where van gogh ate and slept, Dr. Gachet's house and the absinth museum are closed on Tuesdays.

mez05

Hi Indygirl2. I'll try to - I'm going to be travelling still in early September (Paris is just the beginning! ) but I will try to remember to post as soon as my feet touch the ground!

Indygirl2

Mez, lucky you. I wish I could spend an extended time in Europe. Sigh....

By the way, I found a webstie for Auvers indicating that until July 10, there is direct train service from Paris. Might be worth checking out. Here's the link.

http://www.auvers-sur-oise.com/francais/index.htm

Kate

RonZ

Try this one for trains in the Paris region

http://idf.sncf.fr/GB/default.htm