You find yourself having seen everything you wanted
to see in Paris (yeah, right). So now where? What follows are some
small daytrips/weekenders that are worth doing. Almost all locations
are easily accessible from Paris via the RER or the TGV high speed
trains. In most cases you will not need to make connections, in some
you will need to change to a bus or walk a few blocks to reach the
destination. Though all destinations are enjoyable and thoroughly
enchanting.
Disneyland Paris
[daytrip] A lot
of information exists on this so I'll just go over some highlights.
The RER to Disneyland is a short one half hour journey
and is priced at 34F each way for adults.
You can take food/drinks into Disneyland. I recommend
taking a bottle to hold water. There is very little shade in
this place and you will find yourself standing in long lines
for some very short experiences. Restaurant prices are reasonable
so you may just want to save yourself the trouble of carrying
food around.
You will get guides to the park when you enter. Make sure to
purchase your tickets in the language you are most comfortable.
Asking for the tickets in French will get you the guides in
French, heh. Tickets are expensive. If you go by the standard
pricing you can easily pay over 200F per adult. Fortunately,
the place isn't doing well so prices are discounted.
Souvenirs here are expensive but no where else will you be able
to purchase clothing that says 'Disneyland Paris' so
if you want it, buy it here. Otherwise, many of the toys, stuffed
animals, etc. are available at the Disney store in Paris
on the Champs-Elysées.
There is a parade both midday and in the evening. If the kids
have the energy then the evening parade is worth seeing.
Parc Asterix
[daytrip] Just
north of Paris. Based on the French Asterix comics Parc Asterix.
Versailles
[daytrip] Birthplace
of the 'Treaty of Versailles' this is a magnificent palace
just a little south of Paris. Easily and inexpensively accessible
by the RER from Paris, 12F each way. Bring along your own food
and water. The palace itself is open to the public at a price,
but the beautiful gardens are free. Within the palace you'll
see the Hall of Mirrors, many paintings devoted to French battles
(that the French won) and quite a few portraits of Napoleon
Bonaparte. One portrait of him looks very much like Armand
Asante (the actor).
La Villette/Cite de Sciences
[daytrip] A hands
on science exhibit. Very large place. Good for the kids. You
will find that French children are very aggressive and not used
to standing in line. You'll have to watch the kids carefully.
Mont St. Michel
[weekender] Another absolutely
overpowering place. As you drive up to Mont St Michel
you just can't help but being in awe. You can catch the train
from Paris to Pontorson, the closest town. From there
you can either go by bus or taxi to Mont St Michel itself.
I recommend staying on the Mont itself. The hotels are amazingly
very reasonably priced. Try to avoid the tourist season too.
Apparently quite packed during July and August. Some hotels
to try are Hotel La Mere Poulard, Les Terraces Poulard.
While the ticket price into St Michel includes a speaking tour
I highly recommend buying a guide outside and taking that instead.
I found the English speaking tour guides to be rather lacking
in content, historical knowledge, etc. While the French speaking
tour guides seemed to have more information.
The Mont is lit up a nights in the typical exquisite capability
of the French Sitting high above the ground on a wall, at dusk,
one can imagine how it must have felt for a young Norman defender
looking down at the invaders encamped in the distance separated
by the sandy, silty flats left behind by the tides. An experience
I highly recommend.
Plenty of food and restaurants are at the Mont. No supermarkets.
One of the attractions is the Omlette Poulard which is supposedly
made from the same recipe back in the 1800s of Madame Poulard.
After having done the sightseeing bit I highly recommend renting
a car and getting around the Brittany (Bretagne) coast. Just
west of Mont St Michel is the town of St. Malo.
An old fort is the primary attraction here.
Further west is Cap Fehrne (sp?). This place is in stark contrast
to the flat lands of Mont St Michel and St. Malo.
You are on tall cliffs high above the ocean. There is one fort
here, Fort La Latte. An uninteresting fort that apparently saw
little or no action. One wonders why someone would have bothered
building a fort on terrain that is inaccessible to any possible
invaders.
Amsterdam
[weekender] Dutch
country. Only a short 4 and one half hours by train Amsterdam
is a nice jaunt away from Paris. The Dutch are all raised speaking
at least four languages so getting around this town is not difficult.
You will also find them incredibly friendly. You'll be left
at Central Station in the heart of Amsterdam. One site
you should not miss is the Van Gogh Museum. I never really appreciated
this man's work until I saw it in person.
Maastricht is also not far and quite nice.
London
[weekender] Britain,
and primarily London, is easily accessible from Paris.
The Eurostar trains run constantly between the two cities. Reasonably
priced and usually efficient service for a 3-4 hour journey.
Word of warning for those traveling with youngsters and trying
to find authentic fish and chips. Pubs in London do not
allow children. Weird but true. Ergo, my kids had to wait until
we got back to Paris to do the fish and chips thing at
an Irish Pub.
Brussels
[weekender] Belgium.
Only 2 and one half hours from Paris by train. Renowned for
their chocolates, Brussels doesn't seem to offer much
else. A possible overnight stop over on your way to Amsterdam?
