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Post by ladyjicky on Feb 4, 2008 1:56:24 GMT -5
I was wondering if anyone has done a day trip to Fontainebleau and was it worth the trouble?
My Mother was reading about the Chateau and we were wondering how far out from Paris it is , what the village around it is like and is the chateau itself a long way from the train station?
Perhaps someone would suggest another place for a daytrip from Paris. We do not wish to see Versailles again but are curious for another place that might be interesting and easy to get to and easy on my Mum. No hills etc.
Thankyou.
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Post by sandy on Feb 4, 2008 7:18:26 GMT -5
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Post by annettecinca on Feb 4, 2008 8:48:42 GMT -5
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Post by suzanne on Feb 4, 2008 10:23:02 GMT -5
A few years ago we did a trip there with Parisvision. We stopped in a lovely little place called Barbazon and then on to Fontainebleau. It was a 4 hour trip in a mini van. It was very nice. Fountianebleau is a smaller, and in our case, much less crowded version of Versailles.
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Post by Darcy on Feb 4, 2008 10:27:04 GMT -5
The Chateau is right in the center of town which I would guess is not far from the train station, at most a short taxi ride if not a walkable distance. I went by car, not out of necessity, but because we went to Vaux le Vicomte as well which is not so easy to get to by train.
The chateau is magnificent as you can imagine, I highly recommend it! The admission is only €8 which includes a very good audio guide.
Suzanne - good point about crowds. I was there in May 2007 and there were not more than 20 other people in this extremely large chateau. I liked Versailles too but would have enjoyed it much more without 10,000 other people!
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Post by Anne on Feb 4, 2008 11:48:37 GMT -5
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Post by robandshelley on Feb 5, 2008 12:36:29 GMT -5
My grandfather spent the night in Fontainbleau during WWII. They had landed at La Havre and were on their way to Marseilles. Because of this I wanted to go see the place as a day trip. We took the train, which was a nice ride and time to relax. then we took a bus from the train station to the site, which was maybe 10 minutes?
We enjoyed the trip well enough, but looking back, if it had not been for my Grandfather having been there, I think we rather have gone somewhere else.
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Post by sandy on Feb 5, 2008 12:58:24 GMT -5
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Post by GitteK on Feb 5, 2008 13:05:52 GMT -5
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Post by ladyjicky on Feb 5, 2008 18:44:16 GMT -5
Gitte the cityrama one looks the best because its only 5 hours - anymore would be too much for Mum as she gets tired by the end of the day and you have the next day to do - if you know what I mean . Then I told her about Provins and she is KEEN as mustard on that too! Its the medieval and the birds of prey and the lovely township of Provins and we looked at the day tours but they go for 11 hours and Mum said she could not last it. So, Anne , Gitte or maybe someone else out there know if we go by train to provin is the township hilly?? I know the castle looks in the photos on a hill but we might be able to walk the township, stay a few hours - do lunch and go home . Or is there another daytrip town outside Paris with that sort of charming old french look and its not hilly? I know I sound like a read "pill" but we do not want to get ill or really tired out and then ruin the rest of our Paris days. Thanyou all for your kind understanding.
If anyone is into the Zodiac - Mum is a Librian and they change their minds and I am going crazy - I have 2 best friends who are Librian too and they are just the same! Yeah, I go nuts ( I am a sensible Scorpio of course - LOL)
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Post by joan1 on Feb 6, 2008 3:30:54 GMT -5
ladyjicky, I have considered going to Provins with my child this time( I always say I am going to go and haven't made it yet, LOL) , but I looked into staying overnight. I found a really nice looking place in the heart of the "old town " or something to that effect, and I have toyed with the idea of going for an overnight, mainly the hotel just looks so quaint, and the thought of just a quiet evening after a day of touring , rather then a trip back on the train, well it appeals .
Anyways check out the website for " Hotel Vieux Remparts" in Provins, doesn 't it look sweet?
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Post by Anne on Feb 6, 2008 3:49:50 GMT -5
From everything that I heard or read about Provins, the town doesn't seem to be hilly, although there is what is called a "high town" and a "low town" . I guess that most of the climbing is actually up (like the fortified walls or towers) or down (like the underground galeries) the monuments, and that is not compulsory of course, you can still visit the town without going inside the monuments if you don't feel able to .
Now, if you go to the Provins link on my previous post and then click on "How to get to Provins" (on the right) and then scroll down, you will then see two maps of the town that you can enlarge, and the first one has some symbols drawn along the "circuit découverte" line that look very much like little touristic trains IMO, departing from the information center (?) . That would be very handy for you and your mom . The only problem is that one can see on the 2nd map that the "real" train station that you will be arriving at is quite far away (S-E) from the information center, which means walking ...
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Post by GitteK on Feb 6, 2008 5:08:44 GMT -5
I would not do self-arranged day trips from Paris, having to deal with trains and busses, and getting all stressed about when the train leaves, from what platform etc etc. I would show the Cityrama and Parisvision sites to mom and have her pick out the excursions she fancies. Short excursions (max. 5 hours) could be: Fontainebleau, Malmaison, Giverny, Chartres - and also this "Illuminations"-tour around in Paris. I can really recommend it, because you get to see all the great monuments lit up in the dark. www.parisvision.com/product.php?langid=en&catid=5&prodid=87 |
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Post by ladyjicky on Feb 6, 2008 20:15:11 GMT -5
Gitte, you have convinced us to do a Cityrama or the like tour! I have done Giverny a couple of times with my husband and Lyon for the day with him too. I was a few years younger and stronger when I did them. We will do the bus guided tours!! Just have to make our mind up which one for they all look so Good!! LOL
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Post by suzanne on Feb 6, 2008 20:56:39 GMT -5
We've used both Parisvison and Cityrama. I did not notice much difference between them. The guides were very good and we enjoyed meeting some of the other passengers. My mom and sister made some lifelong friends on the tour of the Loire Vally they did with Cityrama.
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Post by ladyjicky on Feb 6, 2008 23:48:10 GMT -5
Thanks Suzanne , I was wondering if Parisvison or Cityrama was better than the other - both great! Makes things easy now.
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Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha