"The most exciting travel guide I've read in years." - Huffington Post
This classic guidebook, full of the little-known treasures of the Īle de France, is now fully updated and revised, with two new chapters.
Discover half-hidden chateaux and artists country houses; walk, boat or dance by the river; explore old towns and country footpaths; and eat in family-run restaurants with 1950s décor. Based on over 20 years experience of exploring the Paris countryside by train, each visit includes the essential historical context and practical information to help you discover places unknown to many Parisians.
Written with humour and a flair for the unusual and authentic, the text is illustrated with original photos and local maps. It includes a unique guide to using the excellent local train network.
Contents
Map showing journey times from Paris
Map of the Ile de France
Rail map of the Ile de France
Preface
Preface to the Fourth Edition
The Ile de France: past and present
How to use this guide
Gare du Nord
1. Montmorency Jean-Jacques Rousseaus house/museum, market, Renaissance
church
2. Ecouen Chāteau-museum of the Renaissance, woodland walk
3. Chantilly Chāteau-museum, horse-racing, canal walk
4. Auvers-sur-Oise Vincent Van Gogh and the Impressionists, village and
river walk
5. Royaumont St Louis, Cistercian abbey, concerts, country walk
6. Luzarches Erik Satie, country walk
7. Senlis The first French kings, cathedral, rampart walk
Gare de lEst
8. Crécy-la-Chapelle Corot, Gothic church, moats, river walk
9. La Ferté-Milon Racine, La Fontaine, Leonardo da Vinci, ruined castle,
canal walk, boat trip
10. Provins Medieval tournaments, ramparts
Gare de Lyon
11. Moret-sur-Loing Alfred Sisley and the Impressionists, river walk to
port of Saint Mammčs
Gare de Montparnasse
12. Rambouillet Chāteau, park : Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, De Gaulle
13. Montfort-lAmaury Simon de Montfort, Maurice Ravel, Victor Hugo,
country walk
Gare St Lazare
14. Poissy St Louis, Monet, Le Corbusier, Emile Zolas house-museum,
river walk
15. Conflans-Sainte Honorine River port, boat museum, island restaurant
accessed by speedboat, island and river walk
St Michel-Notre Dame RER
16. Sceaux Chāteau, park : Colbert, Le Nōtre, walk to Chateaubriands
house and garden
Chātelet-Les Halles RER
17. Champigny-sur-Marne Traditional French music/dancing by the river,
Abbey ruins at St Maur, island, river bus to Joinville
18. The islands of Créteil Victor Hugo, island walk
19. Champs-sur-Marne Menier chocolate factory, river walk, Madame de
Pompadours chāteau and park
20. Saint Germain-en-Laye Le Nōtre, Debussy, Maurice Denis house-museum,
chāteau
On the Tourist Trail Versailles, Giverny, Fontainebleau
Getting around the Ile de France:
The cultural context getting into the local rhythm, the pleasures of
provincial life, the love of numbers, the French attitude to information
Practical details public transport, maps, useful sources of information,
books, bookshops
Best days to visit markets, museums and chāteaux, other attractions
Glossary
Train travellers glossary
Chronology of French rulers
Acknowledgements
Picture credits
Index
Annabel Simms was born in England, of Hungarian parentage. In 1991 she moved to Paris on a year's sabbatical from her job as a college lecturer in London, and never left. She now works as a freelance journalist, editor and English teacher.
