People are always asking what they can do to get out of Paris for a day, just to experience something different from big city life. Even though lots of people go to Versailles, this doesn't really fit the bill because the château takes up most of the day, and I rarely see anybody writing about how they visited the city of Versailles as well.

Saint Germain-en-Laye presents one similarity with Versailles -- it was the royal city of residence before Versailles was built, and then it was "abandoned." So it has remained quite modest in size while not forgetting its past prestige.

It is the destination of the very first passenger train line built in France from Paris, and that line has now become the western end of the RER A. So it is super easy to go there from Paris and it takes less than half an hour.

Here is the report I made of my trip there on November 1st: http://tinyurl.com/d8mkrmt

There are many day trips one can take from Paris, but the whole reason to be in Paris is to experience the city, not take day trips, Even Versailles can be taxing, as already noted.

I'm sorry but for some of us the whole reason to go to Paris is so you can experience the area around it also. Kinda hard to do that when you're sitting in Florida!

I disagree with the above post and the more times I go to Paris, the more I also want to venture out a bit more. I love Paris but there are some wonderful things to do and see 1-2 hours away!

As always, very interesting kerouac. I always enjoy your reports. Speaking of day trips...is there now a hotel at Chantilly?

I enjoyed this very much, thanks for doing these!

~Liz

To each his or her own. We just did two weeks in Normandy, not from PARIS, even though Paris is only a couple of hours away.

I love doing daytrips from Paris. There are so many possibilities, many of them an easy train ride away. We loved our day in St-Germain-en-Laye a few years back.

Excellent report as usual Kerouac. The posh western suburbs are so close to Paris and so worthy of exploration but receive virtually no foreign visitors. Just the other day my Mrs. and I explored a couple of them, Louveciennes and Marly-le-Roi. These places are totally charming and their old downtowns have the feel of provincial country villages. They are also full of history and have loads to see and do. Both these places can be accessed by the Transilien trains. You can follow the trail of the Impressionist Painters and brochures are provided at the tourist offices to guide you. Make sure you are in Marly around lunchtime as they have an excellent selection of about 9 or 10 restaurants on rue Grande (the main street that cuts through the downtown). Here is the link to their tourist office website where you can learn about what to see and do and download brochures:

http://www.marlyleroi-tourisme.fr/

I've often driven all through there in rental cars, and the area is indeed fascinating. Conflans Sainte Honorine, the boat dwellers' capital, makes an excellent destination as well.

Thank you, Kerouac. As usual, very interesting report.

Regarding the small column in the yard of the castle, this is a reproduction, from 19th century, of the bottom part of Trajan's column. The original it is in Trajan's Forum in Rome and it was done in 2nd century to commemorate the victory of Trajan in Dacia. The design was done by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus , the same architect who designed the Pantheon and the bridge over the lower Danube (Trajan's bridge).

Saint Germain-en-Laye would be my choice ( if I had one!)of where to live "in Paris"

Nothing makes me want to visit Paris again more than your posts Kerouac; and this time I was there just last month. I find the more one visits the urge to explore the as yet unexplored grows stronger.

Another interesting report, Kerouac. Looking at the rain coming down made me shiver as I imagine that it was a cold rain this time of year. Somehow I just imagined my feet getting wet and cold. (Ramblings of an old lady I guess.) Thanks again for great pictures and interesting narrative.

Great thread. The truncated piller is a copy of something pretty important and I've seen it in a few places. It will come to me... Trajan. Yep here it is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan%27s_Column
It is about his vistory in Dacia and there are few copies spotted around the world though the original is in Rome. The V&A has a copy and I've seen bits of it in Bucharest.

Of course I could be wrong

Oh Valtor, I'm sorry I missed your input. You beat me.

Its been bugging me that I've seen it somewhere else and it was in Paris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me Place Vendome

near an Alsatian restaurant where Mrs Bilbo had a pint of cognac poured over a bomb-surprise. Had to carry her home! Happy days

Cool...I am not as up on my history as I should be but I thought "that looks like Trajan's column"!

Well if it is like the one in Vendome then it is Napoleanic and is something to do with the battle of Austerlitz rather than Dacia. How can we find out?

thanks, kerouac.

we ended up spending a night in st. Germain en Laye a few years ago when we had a day to show our kids Paris and there was a transport strike. We parked underground by the RER station, caught the still-functioning RER A into Paris, spent a lovely day there, then caught what may have been the last train out, [all for free as there was no-one to collect money or check tickets] before having a lovely dinner in St. Germain.

apart from a few tricky moments while we were looking for a gate down into the metro that wasn't shut and barred so we could catch the train back to St. Germain, we had a great day.

Kerouac is always full of great local knowledge, that we can all so appreciate.

I will have a new day trip for all, soon..doing Toulouse for a day and breakfast and lunch at Le Bibent. I will be doing it December 1. Just printed my boarding passes! Should be a fun day!

a bientot...
Joan