Jan

We will be in Paris for 5 days in June and are wondering if a day trip to Mont St Michel is possible,accessable, etc. Any other castle(not palaces)type places in the vicinity of Paris? I have kids that are big into castles and medieval stuff.

Christina

Oh, it's possible although some will say you HAVE to stay overnight due to travel time. I forget why, I think there's something good to see you miss if you do it in a day trip (I haven't been). It is far and not easily accessible by train (you must take train to nearby town beginning with P, forget the name, and then the bus and due to scheduling and time, you won't have much time left) so if you do this, I think the best thing is to take an organized bus tour for efficiency. Parisvision (www.parisvision.com) has one (about 7 am to 9 pm) that costs about $100 each. That probably seems like a lot of money for a whole family, but I think that might be best if you want a day trip as it's about 250-300 miles from Paris. You could rent a car, of course, and save a lot for a family that way, but it may not be worth the hassle depending on your budget. (That $100 is really just for the bus transporation, you're on your own while you're there, but you couldn't do it cheaper by train+bus). I have a couple cheaper suggestions. Go to Angers in western France, you can get there directly by TGV in only about 2 hrs (or less) and they have a medieval chateau there, plus museum and some other stuff to see. It is walkable from the train station and train fare is only about $50 one way adults, I suppose kids are less. Another nice caste is Chantilly which is very close to Paris and they have a horse museum there, also, a nice little art museum inside the castle and nice gardens. That would be a very good trip but it's not medieval (avoid any race day). There is info on the Horse Museum at www.musee-vivant-du-cheval.fr. Train fare there isn't much as it's not far. Finally, I'd suggest the Chateau de Vincinnes right on the metro line on the east side of Paris. That's pretty stark and gothic; there's some little museum inside, don't remember much about it. Be sure to check on that one before you go as it was closed for renovations and I don't know if it's open yet. They also lost a lot of trees out there due to the storms last summer, but I think the renovation was for other reasons. That metro stop has some rather unsavory characters hanging around and around the chateau front park, also, even in the daytime--I had some problems there, so be watchful and purposeful and don't let your kids wander off alone. I don't mean to scare you off, I'd still go there, but it's one of the few places in Paris I was harrassed by strange men (that and Luxembourg Gardens, actually).

jan

Thanks for the alternate ideas. Sounds like Mt St Michel might be too far.

elvira

Thanks, Christina, for offering Vincennes and Chantilly; I'd forgotten all about them, so now they're on my list of to-dos this fall (re the men: "strange" as in unknown, or "strange" as in one eye in the middle of their foreheads? I just want to be prepared). <BR> <BR>Right in Paris is the Hotel de Sens, a medieval house/castle in the Marais. Nearby are two medieval houses on rue Francois Miron. In front of Notre Dame is the crypte, which is a piece of Paris that was covered over when the cathedral was built. How about the creepy catacombs and sewers (hiding places throughout the city's history)? At les Invalides is the Army Museum with all sorts of armor and nasty-looking weapons. <BR> <BR>Outside Paris is the Chateau at Conde. <BR> <BR>At Amboise (day trip via the TGV) is a great castle with the added bonus of da Vinci's home down the street. <BR> <BR>Rouen is pretty medieval all by itself. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Dave

Mont St Michel is absolutely possible as a day trip. Take the TGV from Paris to Rennes. A bus service named Breton picks you up and returns you to the train station. You can easily spend several hours at Mont St Michel and return to Paris for a late (normal for Paris) dinner. Be prepared for a lot of steps and an overly commercialized Disneyworld array of tacky souvenirs shops on the way into the abbey.

Marion

Dave, can you provide information on this Breton bus service -- is it private or a public bus? How does one get a timetable/schedule & make a reservation (if necessary)? Thanks. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Jane

Again a warning, if you have any difficuly walking or get winded easily, do not go to Mont St Michel. I saw so many older folks who were so frustrated as they came so far and were unable to take the steps and incline. It is lovely but difficult.

christina

Elvira, I mean strange as in peculiar and who knows what they are up to or what they want. Clochards. Bums. Winos, the type of people who drink wine on park benches in Paris. Thye com up to women minding their own business and start hassling them for something, I just can't figure out what. I've asked a friend of mine who speaks French pretty well and she also went to university over there a year so speaks French even better than I do, and she had the same problem (both of us in Luxembourg Gardens) and neither of us could figure out what these characters want or are up to. They aren't French, I don't think, but some type of immigrant, and they don't speak French very well as I can't understand what they want although I try to ignore them anyway so they leave, so don't get into conversations with them. They are older men, badly dressed, who come up to you sitting on a park bench and start harassing you for SOMETHING who knows what. Maybe they are just beggars, but for some reason I doubt that as they go up to younger single women, not just anyone, as I've watched them after I get rid of them and they do the same thing to other women in the park. They are too old, poorly dressed and out of it to be trying to pick up women. And I don't look like a hooker, so I don't get it, but they are creepy. I usually try to pretend I don't speak French, that usually works (I know, the reverse of what everybody tells you to do in Paris, ha, ha) only I slipped that time and started telling him off in rather vulgar French slang after I'd just said in my Midwestern American accent that I didn't speak French, and his eyes opened real wide because he was so surprised, but he left pretty quickly, and a couple young guys over by the metro station started laughing and signaled thumbs up to me, like "hey, way to go".

elvira

Christina, you have relieved my mind. My French is ok, but I've heard the mutterings and thought "uh oh my French is really bad, I can't understand what he's saying"....maybe it's being the second language. Mutterings in English make no sense, but I know what's being said and know it can't make sense (re the monologue on black turtles and happiness to which I was once privy). <BR> <BR>I feel much better now; it's not my French...the guy really ISN'T making any sense!