Hello,

My husband and I will travel to Paris over the Christmas/New Year holiday season.

We will take one or two day trips (Versailles...) outside of Paris, but would like to take one overnight trip
(1 night only) outside of the city (possibly staying in a chateau or somewhere very neat.)

Originally we had planned on Amboise in the Loire Valley, but almost all of the chateaus that we wanted to stay in will be closed for the holiday season. We explored other cities near Amboise, but have not had much luck...

Although we have not completely eliminated this area, can anyone please provide some other suggestions that would be appropriate for this season? (We had planned to rent a car in Paris and drive, but may now take the train to our destination...we do not want to drive more than 3 hours at MOST.)

I will list below a few other places we have looked at:

Reims - few chateaus

Saint Paterne

Strasbourg - supposed to be Christmas"y" with a German flavor, but seems large....we want more of a village feel...

I really appreciate any winter ideas!

Thank you!

I found a suggestion from another poster here on the forum: (to quote)
Author: jh6000 <threadselect.jsp?screen_name=jh6000&fid=2& gt;
Date: 08/19/2003, 12:08 am
Message: How would you like to actually stay overnight in a castle with a moat that is an easy trip from Paris? If that interests you, check out Chateau d'Etoges, just south of Reims and Epernay(www.etoges.com). We stayed there 2 nights last September and really enjoyed it. Even put a couple of our travelers in the turret!

Happy travels.
John H.

Here is a link to chateaux-hotels to help with your investigation:
www.chateauxhotels.com

There was another chateau/hotel mentioned in the past year, north of Paris, but I can't find the posting. Maybe someone will bring it up in further responses...

I would recommend Troyes. The large old town is within walking distance of the train station. The cathedral is one of the great Gothic cathedrals around the Ile de France and it has a fantastic tool museum which also illustrates the pre-industrial trades.

Strasbourg would be great for winter and Christmas but it's true it's not a village. However, neither is Reims, I don't understand why you have that on your list--it's a large city, almost the size of Strasbourg (over 200,000 pop or so).

There is another small village in the Alsace area near Strasbourg known for its Christmas market, you could look into that -- it is Kaysersberg. See http://www.kaysersberg.com and http://www.visit-alsace.com/kaysersberg/
http://www.ville-kaysersberg.fr/

It is on the wine route, has an abbey, fortress, and chateaux nearby, etc. Albert Schweitzer was from there.

Chateau du Chaumontel, just north of Paris in Luzarches, is along the train line and is a lovely place to stay, with beautiful grounds.

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Thanks for help!

looking at Alsace. looking at Abbaye La Pommeraie in Selestat for lodging and perhaps dinner. lunch at Auberge de I'll in Illhaeusern.

like to visit Kaysersberg, Ribeauville, Riquewehr, and Colmar (skip Strasbourg...)

need to research how get there. seems a bit too far to drive for a night so maybe train and rent car...

Hello,
I have discovered that the train from Paris to Colmar/Strasbourg is about 4 hours - rather long for an overnight trip. Does anyone recommend this or are there any other suggestions for this time of year? Thanks again!
(also considering London as day trip...?)

HI
I believe Les Crayeres just outside of Reims is open during the winter (they have a website--www.gerardboyer.com). If it is, it is a chateau-like inn, with a Michelin-starred restaurant. It is just across from the Pommery champagne caves which may or may not be open in winter for tours, but Les Crayeres can inquire for you.

There are positive comments on this place also at tripadvisor.com

Les Crayeres is closed for winter break starting December 22nd; I just checked because I was interested in something similar to caracy, and I, too, found so many places closed. What about Normandy? Hotels in Deauville are open, and there seems to be a fair amount of activity. Any thoughts??? Thanks.

Personnaly I really like Degas' sculptures. Though once I found out that they kept the molds and continued to cast I thought it cheapened the art a bit. Rodin was especially bad about this.

Now why did this post here? I'll have to put it where it belongs...