Paris Region City Break

A week exploring the area around Paris

Recommended days	7
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Our Accomodation

Although this was a Paris city break we didn’t actually go into the city centre at all. We stayed at the Marriott resort next to Euro Disney and did a few day trips to the surrounding region.

We flew into CDG and it was entertaining trying to find the route out in the hire car, I think we did a couple of circuits before we worked it out. It was a short trip to the resort and we then settled into our villa. As usual with Marriott the villa and resort were excellent so we spent the afternoon having a look around and in the gym and pool.

Provins

The next day was a funny kind of day, it was dry when we woke up, raining by the time we finished brekkie and then dry again 30 mins later. We decided that we may as well go somewhere as it was pointless waiting for the weather to be sensible.

Provins was on our list as somewhere for a half day visit so we headed there along incredibly straight and empty roads. Parking was well signposted as the town pretty much relies on the tourist trade. I can imagine it being packed in the summer but on a wet March morning it was strangely deserted.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After walking through the excellent Tourist Information place we headed for St Jean’s Gate and then followed the ramparts around to the Jouy Gate. The ramparts were impressively restored and it really gave the scale of the town’s defences.

At each gate there were steps up and you could do a short rampart walk. Other than cars and television aerials the town has barely been touched by industrialisation. The houses were largely timber framed with some impressive sagging and leaning!

Provins: St Quiriace Church

We had a welcome lunch stop at Mammy Gateaux – omelette followed by crepes flambe! This was on the main town square which was extremely pretty and even had some modern (18th century) buildings! We then headed out for the walk to the imposing St Quiriace Church.

Reading the info inside was quite tragic – the medieval wall paintings inside had been white washed by a bishop and another bishop had allowed craftsmen to remove medieval wood pannelling and sell it to pay their wages. The place had also been burned and suffered storm damage. A bit like the Monty Python castle built in a swamp!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Provins: Caesar Tower

The other building dominating the town is the Caesar Tower (named to make it seem a thousand years older than it really is!). A pretty unique piece of architecture – a round base with a square tower and then an octagonal roof section. The views were impressive and the roof with the bells in it was quite amazing – a ridiculously narrow spiral staircase going up to it and then some incredible woodwork and lots of pigeon poo.

After leaving the tower we ambled back to the car by a different route and then drove home by a different route too – why do sat navs do that?!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Pierrefonds

After a quiet day yesterday the weather looked better today so Debbie, Mum and I headed off to Pierrefonds, a restored chateau originally built in the 13th century and then repaired in the 19th. The sat nav sent us through some delightful villages although most of the terrain was incredibly flat and open.

Part of it was the site of fighting in WW1 and we saw lots of memorials to the war dead. We drove past some beautiful small chateaux and it is quite remarkable how rural and empty France is compared to the UK.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

There was plenty of parking once we reached the town and we headed straight to the imposing chateau along a meandering path that followed the castle walls. After a quick bag search we bought our tickets and entered the courtyard.

The stonework was impressive, lots of grotesques and gargoyles and some very weird mythic creatures indeed. The exhibition on the restoration was interesting – although it was all in French – and it was quite a state when they started work!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The interior was quite amazing – similar to Castel Coch but more grand. The photos haven’t come out that well as the weather was so dull but the colours were impressive and the sheer scale of the rooms was breathtaking.

The cellars had an interesting statuary exhibition on great figures of French history but it was too dark for photos. We finished off by wandering around the town. There were some beautiful buildings although only one cafe was open and the crepes from there were pretty bland. Home by 5PM after a very frugal day!

Meaux

I have had a limit put on the number of trips I can do by Debbie and Mother because apparently, people want to ‘relax’ on holiday! Therefore we drove just 20 minutes to the small town of Meaux. I had never heard of the place but it was the site of a battle in WW1 and was also captured by the English after a long siege in the Hundred Years War.

• 

• 

• 

We eventually parked in the centre and ambled to the cathedral complex – a group of buildings that incorporated the original Roman walls. These were mostly closed between 12 and 2 but we viewed the outside then went for lunch at a great little cafe before walking down to the river. We then headed back to the car via visits to the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace and the cathedral.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Once we got back to the resort the sun came out but c’est la vie! I had a wander round the resort for the first time and watched the sunset, very pleasant.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We had another idle day in the resort that included two visits to the shopping village up the road, mostly to indulge in delicious hot chocolate. It was quite a nice little place to while away some time although the second time we did make the mistake of walking there. It was a lot further than it felt when driving! The next day was our final trip but in the evening Mum and Deb indulged in crepe making and cocktail making classes at the resort.

Versailles

I’d never been to Versailles but it’s the kind of iconic place you need to see once. Traffic was pretty horrendous and it took over 2 hours to get there but we were able to park right outside. There wasn’t much of a queue going in although the system is pretty strange – if you see the gardens first you then have to go outside and queue again for the chateau. The forecast was for rain later so that’s what we did.

The gardens were vast. The parts we saw took nearly 4 hours walking and were about 20% of what was available. The vistas and design were as superb as we expected, with a serene classical elegance. I can imagine it’s a lot more colourful in summer but also a lot more crowded!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After a snack we then rejoined the queue (an hours wait this time!) to tour the Chateau. This was again pretty much as expected – over the top opulence, gaudy, lots of gilt and all about bigger is better. It was also quite crowded so some areas you were just shuffling along in a queue. Two hours drive home made it a long day but it certainly is a stunning place to go.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

This was a more relaxed break than usual which in some ways was nice although there are still lots of places in the vicinity that are on my list. It does mean that another Paris city break can easily be justified though! It was nice to stay in a good resort though as it gave us options for activities if the weather was bad and being self catering it saved a lot of cash!

2017