Travel Tips & Tricks

VAUX-LE-VICOMTE

Open every day

Directions
Train from Gare de Lyon to Melun (25 mins) or RER D to Melun.
Then 6 km taxi ride from train station or shuttlebus operates weekends (check website for departure times - www.vaux-le-vicomte.com) 

Tips
Excellent audio guide in English - made by owner of the château M. Jean-Charles de Voguë)
Hire golf buggy and spend time in garden (like many of the châteaux, it is closed at lunchtime so this is a good time to check out the superb Le Nôtre garden)
Candlelight visits - Saturday 8 pm to midnight (May to October, except for 12 September), Friday and Saturday evening (July, August).  I would recommend going with driver, rather than public transport

Restaurant
There is a cafeteria in one of the outbuildings

  Bassin de la Couronne, Julien Valle

  King's bedroom
J B Leroux

MAISONS-LAFFITTE

Visit the castle - designed by Mansard and considered the perfect example of classical French architecture - and its horse racing museum.  Visits are also available to the racehorse training centre and stables.
Château closed Tuesday

Directions
RER A (15 mins from Paris)

Tips
Visit the Tourism Office near the station for an English guide to walking around the area and other tours or go on line - www.tourisme.maisonslaffitte.fr  

Restaurant
Le Vieille Fontaine - a restaurant situated in a former residence in the park - an idyllic setting overlooking the private gardens

Overnight stay
Check out a great little b and b - www.villacarioca.fr

 
La Vieille Fontaine


L'Epicerie de Longueil

Château de Groussay’s 30 hectare park and the private theatre can be visited from 1 April to 31 October, Wed to Sun

Directions
Several options for train plus bus on Transilien website (around 1 hour 40 mins in total)
Train from Paris Montparnasse, direction Dreux, stop Méré/Montfort-l’Amaury (about 45 minutes).
4 km taxi ride from station (taxis can be booked 01 34 86 08 80)

Maurice Ravel’s house is in the village, and you can walk there.  Château de Groussay and Jean Monnet’s house and Louis Carré’s house are outside the village and you will need to organize transport.

Tips
There is a lot to see in this area.  You might consider hiring a car from Versailles or Rambouillet and spending a couple of days
For details on visiting the homes, contact the local tourist office - www.tourisme.fr/office-de-tourisme/montfort-l-amaury.htm

Restaurants
There are a number of places to eat in the village.  You could consider an overnight stay at a B&B there and check out the little antique shops.  www.hotelsaint-laurent.com

VERSAILLES

Château closed Monday

Directions
RER C to Château de Versailles (40 mins) - 5 mins walk to Château.

Tips
Stay overnight  -  www.westin.com/trianonpalace - check out the fabulous spa!

Buy tickets ahead to avoid queue.  You can buy combined train/entry tickets at RER C station at St Michel.

CHEVREUSE VALLEY

Château de Breteuil - still privately owned by the Marquis de Breteuil, and one of the most interesting châteaux to visit.  Rich in history (lots of memorabilia given to the Marquis’ ancestors by Marie-Antoinette, her mother Empress Maria Theresa, and a host of other key players in history), the château is a wonderful example of how people lived in the past.  The original owner was a contemporary of Charles Perrault, author of the children’s fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Tom Thumb etc) and children will find all their favorite characters in the castle and the various outbuildings.  Picnics are also welcome in the vast gardens.  (www.breteuil.fr)

Abbaye de Cernay
a 12th century abbey, once owned by the Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild and now a luxury hotel set in a 65 hectare park with a 5 hectare pond.  Fabulous restaurant with vaulted ceiling and you can also stay overnight.

Snail Farm
Ferme de Fanon

Ferme de Coubertin - a family run farm with daily tasting of its produce (cheese, patés, honey, cider, vegetables, eggs) between 9 and 10.30 and 5 and 7 pm daily.  It’s another great place for children who can get up close to the farm animals.

Directions
RER B to St-Remy-les-Chevreuse (about 40 minutes).  There is a “Baladobus” on Sundays from 1 May to 28 October.  (Info www.parc-naturel-chevreuse.fr).

Tip
You’ll probably want to spend at least one night in the region.  If you only have a day and don’t want to hire a car, I would recommend contacting Sabine, a delightful English speaking lady who lives in St-Remy and has her own 8 seater mini van.

You can stay at the Abbaye de Cernay (www.abbayedecernay.com)
Another option is a little privately owned B&B which was formerly a relais de poste (www.relaissaintlaurent.com)

Restaurants
Between St Remy and the Rambouillet forest, there are countless restaurants. 
“La Table du Prieur”, an elegant restaurant with vaulted ceilings in the Abbaye de Cernay
“La Table des Blot” offers gastronomic dining at Dampierre (www.latabledesblot.com)
“Au Mediéval” for a candlelit dinner set in medieval décor (http://aumedieval.unblog.fr)
“L’Hermitage” is nearby and its terrace overlooks the stunning countryside with a lake and small waterfall
“La Capriosa” in the medieval village of Chevreuse specializes in local produce (French cuisine with a touch of Louisiana, thanks to the US born owner) (www.lacapriosa.com)
“La Croc Mitoufle”, with its log fires in winter and terrace dining in summer is another restaurant specializing in locally grown produce (www.lacroqmitoufle.com)
“Auberge de l’Elan” in Les Bordes near La Celle des Bordes where the high quality Salers beef is sold direct from the farms (Ferme la Noue and Ferme Liseclaire)

AUVERS-SUR-OISE

Visit the “spectacle” at the Château d’Auvers, “Voyage in the time of the Impressionists” (www.chateau-auvers.fr)

Directions
Trains leave from both Gare St Lazare (change at Pontoise for Auvers-sur-Oise) and Gare du Nord (change at Valmondois for Auvers-sur-Oise)
On weekends from May 1 there is a direct train from Gare du Nord (50 mins)

Tips
Make sure you visit Daubigny’s studio with its 200 square meters of internal walls painted by Daubigny, his children and his friends Corot, Daumier and Oudinoy.  His great great grandson and wife still live there
Wander around the village checking out copies of VanGogh’s paintings in the original locations he painted them
Visit his attic room (Auberge Ravoux) and his grave in the town cemetery.  From there you can walk through the fields on the pathway he took to the château.  A copy of his last self portrait marks the spot where he shot himself (near the carpark entry to the château)

Restaurants
You can dine at both the château and the Auberge Ravoux, however the town has a number of restaurants to choose from.  It is a favorite haunt for business lunches.

FONTAINEBLEAU

Closed Tuesday

Directions
Train from Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon (45 mins).  Bus meets train and goes to Château (15 mins) 

Tips
Good audio guide in English.
Ask if Empress Eugenie’s Chinese salon is open for visit.

Restaurants
There are a number of restaurants in the street next to the château.

This is the easiest “short break”. The audio guide is good, all the explanations in each area of the donjon are in English as well as French and there is a 15 minute film explaining the history.  My friend Vanessa sometimes works as a guide there.  If she is available, you might be able to arrange a guided tour in English.

Open every day

Directions
End of metro line 1 (20 mins from Chatelet)
Castle next to exit.

Tips
Best on weekdays
Get English audio guide

Restaurants
Lot of little bistros on street facing château.  Locals tell me they get their lunch (take away or eat in) Elisabeth and Régis Royer’s Boulanger Patissier in avenue du Château (street leading straight from castle) is open weekdays.

If you go to the park, keep to the main roadways.  Both here and at Bois de Boulogne it is not a good idea to go wandering off into the bushes.  There are often “salons” and exhibitions in the Park Floral.  The tourist office is just past the metro entry, opposite the bus station.   

MARLY-LE-ROI

Directions
Train from Gare St Lazare or La Défense (direction St Nom le Breteche) stop Marly-le-Roi (about 40 minutes)

Tips
Wander through the old village and take a leisurely walk through the park.  The museum shows paintings of the park as it was when the kings of France used to stay there.
Go for a walk through the gardens, then have lunch in the old village.  Take a bus and visit Alexandre Dumas’ Château de Monte Cristo in the afternoon (www.chateau-monte-cristo.com).  You can then catch the bus on to St-Germain-en-Laye and take the RER A back to Paris.

Restaurants
“Cottage”, 7 bis Grande rue, is a delightful little salon de thé.
“Le Village”, 3 Grande rue (01 39 16 28 14) is the hot place for foodies.  Run by Japanese chef Tomohiro Uido, this restaurant draws rave reviews from the French food critics.  Le Nouvel Observateur recently described the “remarkable” lunch they enjoyed (for 36 euros!) - the product of the chef’s “brilliant imagination”.  Tomohiro Uido has lived in France for 28 years, working for top class establishments before opening his own restaurant in the old village of Marly-le-Roi seven years ago.  Primarily French cuisine, he describes his cuisine as a “personalized” version.

Marly-le-Roi, Park

Cottage Tearoom
Grande Rue Marly-le-Roi
Photo:  Saulnier

CHÂTEAU DE MALMAISON

Closed Tuesdays
The Château is closed at lunchtime so don’t go between 12 and 1.30.

There is going to be a fabulous exhibition at Malmaison featuring Josephine’s antique collection - From Pompeii to Malmaison.  (22 October - 27 January 2009). 

• Directions
  RER A or Metro Line 1 to La Défense.  Bus 258 to stop “Le Château” (22 mins from La Defense).
  Or,
• Visit the town (including St Pierre Paul, the church where Josephine and her daughter Hortense are buried)
  RER A to stop Rueil Malmaison (20 mins)  Bus 144 to Mairie de Rueil (5 mins) 

Tips
www.rueil-tourisme.com site - excellent site in English with all info, including listing of 52 restaurants

Restaurants
There are a lot of restaurants in the area, especially around the square with the former hotel de ville.  You need to have at least a coffee at Lorenza, right in the square.  It is a brasserie/Italian traiteur with a quirky décor.  Hot pink and lime green feathers on the seats and walls set the scene - check it out, EVERYTHING is colour coordinated.  Make sure you go down to the colourful little loo - hot pink and lime green basins and hot pinks towels, surrounded by walls painted with a riot of animals.  There’s even a cow on the loo seat grazing on the co-ordinated green grass.
For a more tranquil setting, there is Le Jardin Clos,  www.lejardinclos.com

La Fournaise - (Renoir’s painting)  - www.restaurant-fournaise.fr
To get there take the RER A to Rueil-Malmaison and then walk across the bridge in the direction of Chatou.  The restaurant is on an island.  It takes about ten minutes to walk there from the station.

Château de Malmaison

Vestibule,
Château de Malmaison

Restaurant Fournaise
Chatou

GETTING OUT OF PARIS -

TRANSPORT

The website www.transilien.com now has an English option.

Go to “Timetables and routes” and you will find a number of options.

Tips for using this website -

• It can be frustrating, so be patient. 
• Work out a couple of well known land marks near your point of departure and check the different options. 
• Be careful about the day of the week - some buses don’t run Sundays, others only run on weekends.  It will not give you timetables for more than a couple of weeks ahead, so check again nearer the time to see that the timetables haven’t changed.
• It does not allow time to queue and buy tickets (which you will need to do if you are going outside the centre of Paris.  Carnets, orange cards etc are valid only within the limits of the metro).  Either add this time or preferably, buy your return tickets ahead of time.
• Tickets can be purchased on the bus (which usually leaves from the train station outside Paris).  Allow 1.5 euros each way.
• Don’t forget you need to “composter” your ticket at the entry to the platform before boarding the train.