The view from the King’s Pavilion at the Royal Estate of Marly is forlorn. Just over four miles from the relentless restoration of Versailles, all that’s left of what was once Louis XIV’s most precious secondary residence is fragments: a cobblestone ramp framed by a stone wall, an outline of a pleasure palace, an alignment of naked trees, a small trooping of trimmed evergreens, water basins without ornaments—scarcely a hint of splendor.

Some of my sense of desolation undoubtedly comes from visiting in the grey-brown damp of winter. I imagine that in warmer, drier seasons one could spend a wonderful morning here playing Frisbee with a Labrador or golden retriever. But I don’t have one.

Still, I’m glad that I’ve come, even in January and despite the complication of getting here. I’ve come to understand the rise and fall of Marly.

The Royal Estate of Marly, located on the edge of the town of Marly-le-Roi, is only 12 miles west of Paris, but it takes an abundance of historical curiosity and a suburban adventure to get you here. Worth it? Not worth it? You be the judge. The bleak landscape certainly has atmosphere. Ruins put grandeur in perspective. And the little museum that recently opened just within the entrance to the estate tells of Marley’s heyday. Other evidence of Marly’s splendor can be seen in Paris, as I’ll explain later. First some background.

Marly is situated nearly midway between Versailles to the south and Saint-Germain-en-Laye to the north. Saint-Germain-en-Laye has a much older royal castle. Louis XIV was born there in 1638. He was born in the “new” chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to be precise, while only the “old” chateau remains today. By the mid-point in his adult reign, the king had three major residences within a short distance: Versailles, Marly and Saint Germain. Add to those the royal residences of the Tuileries and the Louvre in Paris. Also noted on this map is the location of writer Alexandre Dumas’s Château de Monte Cristo.

The Creation of Marly

King since the age of 4 years and 8 months, Louis XIV took control of the reins of power at age 23, in 1661. He immediately set about developing the palace of Versailles. In 1682, after two decades of construction and landscaping, he declared Versailles the official seat of the monarchy. Though intense construction would continue at Versailles after 1682, Louis XIV simultaneously then set his sights on developing the more private residence of Marly, an easy carriage-ride away.

Corresponding with this period, in 1683, Marie-Theresa, his queen, died, and several months later, Louis married Madame de Maintenon in secret.

As with Versailles, Louis XIV gave much input to plans for the pleasure palace of Marly and to its gardens, basins and fountains. As at Versailles, he followed the construction closely. The lead architect was Jules-Hardouin Mansart, who also marked the latter decades of the 17th century with such monumental works as the Hall of Mirrors, among other developments, at Versailles and the Dome of the Invalides and Place Vendome in Paris. Charles Le Brun, who provided the decorative elements for the Hall of Mirrors, among many other rooms at Versailles, also had a hand in decorating Marly. However, Marly’s brilliance was not of the in-your-face kind as at Versailles but of the luxuriant get-away kind.

Louis first stayed at Marly in 1686, and from then until his death in 1715 this was his primary second home. While the king reveled in the glitz and glamour and omnipresent public at Versailles, he enjoyed frequent breaks at Marly, sojourning at the estate on average every couple of weeks for several days. Here he would spend time with the royal family and with Madame de Maintenon and a relatively limited number of courtiers. The etiquette and the dress code at Marly were more relaxed than at Versailles. “Sire, Marly,” courtiers would plead to the king to allow them to counted among the lucky few. In his final years he would come more often and for longer stays, spending more than one third of the year at Marly.

Garden walks, card games, lawn games and fairground-type rides were among the royal pastimes and especially hunting in the surrounding forest, before his health declined.

Unlike Versailles and other palaces and castles built as a single structure, the constructions on the estate of Marly had a fragmented layout. The king’s pavilion, containing a central reception area and apartments for the royal family, was surrounded by a constellation of 12 smaller pavilions for selects guests.

The Machine of Marly

The pavilions of Marly have been largely forgotten, other than a few glimpses in the Marly Museum. When the history of Marly is evoked today, it’s less to speak of the estate than of its sculpted horses, now in Paris, and its Machine, long gone.

The Machine of Marly was a massive engineering project involving a complex array of pumps and lifts that carried water from the Seine River to feed the insatiable thirst of the fountains and basins first at Marly then also at Versailles. Though pumped from the Seine only two miles away in the town of Bougival, the great feat was to use the force of the river to lift water 531 feet so as to carry it over the hillside and onto an aqueduct that sloped gradually toward Marly, then to Versailles. It was late-17th-century engineering at its finest and likely noisiest.

The quantity of water supplies by the Machine allowed for the operation of cascading fountains at Marly, including one called “The River” that flowed toward the royal pavilion before feeding lower fountains, basins and ponds within the estate’s formal gardens and precisely edged groves. Though in constant need of repair, the Machine as it was more or less designed operated until the early 19th century, when a steam engine was built as its energy source. That was then replaced by a hydraulic process later in the century. Scant evidence of the complex can be seen today by the Seine, where the most visible remnant is the 19th-century pumping station and the rows of trees up the hill that follow the former path along which the water was carried.

A display in the museum on the edge of the estate demonstrates how the Machine operated.

The Horses of Marly

Among the ponds fed by the water network was the Horse Pond or Drinking Pool. At its entrance stood two majestic marble equestrian statues: Mercury Riding Pegasus and Fame Riding Pegasus. They are the work of sculptor Antoine Coysevox in 1702. Several years after Louis XIV’s death in 1715, Coysevox’s horses were placed in the royal garden of the Tuileries in Paris.

Marly was also used by the Louis XIV’s successors, the Fifteenth and Sixteenth of that name, though much less so. Louis XV showed enough interest in Marly to order some restoration work and to stay here occasionally but not enough to detract from the attention he paid to other more modern royal playgrounds that he developed in the middle of the 18th century. Scoring an invitation during Louis XV’s time was easier for courtiers. In place of the equestrian statues of Coysevox in the Tuileries, the king commissioned Guillaume Coustou the Elder, Coysevox’s nephew, to create another pair, called Horses Restrained by a Groom. Both sets are referred to as the Horses of Marly, though the term is particularly used in speaking of Coustou’s pair. Created in created in 1745, these masterpieces of the Rococo period are among the most famous of 18th-century French sculptures. (Coustou’s brother Nicolas also created sculptures for Marly.)

Louis XVI was still less involved in the royal estate of Marly than his predecessor. Nevertheless, he did visit. His final stay took place just three weeks before the storming of the Bastille.

The Marly Courtyard at the Louvre

With the fall of the monarchy, Marly, like Versailles, become property of the French Republic. Statuary, tapestries and furnishings were brought to Paris for public exhibition. Coustou’s horses were placed at the entrance to the Champs-Elysées. Copies stand there today, as the originals have since been brought into the Louvre. So have Coysevox’s.

After visiting the Royal Estate of Marly to feel its absence and to learn its history, I’ve come to the Louvre to admire samplings of that finery. There, in what is now called the Marly Courtyard, Coustou’s horses rear above a collection of brilliant sculptural work from the vanished gardens. As first-time visitors crush toward the must-sees in the Louvre’s Denon (southern) and Sully (eastern) wings, I take the northern escalator into the Richelieu Wing. In the glass covered courtyard, allowing for natural lighting, stands an impressive array of the statuary originally made for Marly. Coustou’s horses are staged in the courtyard as theatrically as the Winged Victory of Samothrace in the opposite wing of the museum, while Coysevox’s horses take flight with Mercury and Fame behind them, and other exquisite works commissioned by Louis XIV toward the end of his reign further display choice samples of the splendor that was Marly.

See this video of the Marly Courtyard produced by the Louvre.

The Dismantling of Marly

While prime pieces of marble artistry were brought to Paris, the furnishings of Marly were sold off by the State. Woodwork was cut up and sold. And in 1799 the estate of Marly itself was sold.

Napoleon bought back the Marly property for the state in 1811. By then the buildings had for the most part been dismantled and sold for scrap. The emperor wasn’t about to rehabilitate a Bourbon adobe anyway. What attracted him to Marly was its forest, prime territory for hunting. The estate therefore became an imperial hunting ground, then after the fall of the Empire a royal hunting ground, and eventually a presidential hunting ground. It remained that way until 2009. Bikers, hikers and Sunday strollers now take to the Forest of Marly.

The Estate of Marly (though not the museum) is now administratively joined with the Estate of Versailles, making for a thought-provoking contrast between the two: on the one hand, the eye-popping views, budget, crowds and commerce of an international bucket-lister; on the other, the ghostly reminder of royal pedigree at what is now essentially a local park and extensive woods.

The Museum of the Royal Estate of Marly

Operated by the local municipality, the museum is dedicated to the history of the estate. Several original paintings and prints and pieces of furniture provide slight glimpses of the estate’s past, but the interest of the museum isn’t so much its historical artefacts as the telling of the history of Marly through its displays, including one that explains the functioning of the Machine. Explanatory notes are only in French for now. Notices in English are planned for the end of the year. Whether you speak French or not, a guide can truly help draw you into the creation and life of this nearly forgotten royal residence. See the museum’s website for guided tour possibilities or to inquire for a private tour.

Musée du Domaine Royal de Marly (Museum of the Royal Estate of Marly), 1 Grille royale – Parc de Marly, 78160 Marly-le-Roi. 7€, free for children under 12. Closed Monday and Tuesday. See website for precise opening times.

Getting to the Estate of Marly

As noted earlier, visiting the Estate of Marly is a suburban adventure, one best reserved for those with an abundance of historical curiosity and a willingness to confront the logistics of navigating the loops of the Seine to the west of Paris.

Consider combining it with other sites in the area, particularly Saint-Germain-en-Laye to the north and the Chateau de Monte Cristo (see below) in Port-Marly, between Marly and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Including Versailles is an alternative approach due to its proximity both geographical and historical, though I imagine that anyone curious about Marly has already visited Versailles.

Setting aside Versailles then, consider three possibilities ways of a day involving a visit to Marly. All require a GPS or detailed map.

1. From Paris by train

From Paris’s Saint Lazare Station, take the train to the Louveciennes Station, a ride of about 45 minutes. From there it’s a 20-minute (1-mile) walk to the museum, which is at the entrance to Royal Estate of Marly, whose ghosts can then be visited on a stroll. Leaving the estate, you might then take a 30-minute (under 2-mile) walk to the Seine. Not the most beautiful walk either coming or going, though you can pass by the wall surrounding the Chateau de Madame de Barry, 6 chemin de la Machine, now a private property. Madame de Barry was Louis XV’s “favorite” (i.e. official mistress) in the final years of his life. The modest chateau was a gift from the king which she then improved. After the king’s death, and followed by her brief exile to a convent, she lived here from 1776 until the guillotine caught up with her in 1793—a pretty good run. You might time your day to have lunch by the river at La Maison Louveciennes, 2 Quai Conti, 78430 Louveciennes. Return to Paris by train or RER.

2. Exploring the western suburbs by car

You can plan a full day exploring Paris’s western suburbs by a taxi or a car service, if you don’t have your own car.

One possible itinerary if setting out from Paris is to first take the RER (suburban train), line A, to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a 40-minute ride from the center of capital. Visit the castle and its gardens, followed by lunch in town, then take a taxi or car service to the Estate of Marly to visit the museum and ghostly portion nearby. Then take a taxi (though one will not spontaneously appear outside the gates of Marly) or a car service to Monte Cristo. You might ask the driver to take you past the scant remnant of the Machine of Marly by the Seine along the way. Then a taxi or car service (or a 30-minute walk) back to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The Château de Monte Cristo isn’t actually a chateau but rather a large house built in the 1840s to resemble a small castle for the writer Alexandre Dumas, who named it after one of his most famous books and decorated it to his own glory. The house and the smaller castle-like outbuilding that he had built on the property to serve as his writing room are now dedicated to his memory, though he didn’t reside here long. After living high on the hog here for less than two years, a lack of funds led him to sell the property in 1848.

3. Marly and Saint-Germain-en-Laye on a biking day

If you’re into biking—and you needn’t be a long-distance cyclist for this—my top choice for visiting Marly would be by bike. Weather permitting, of course. The 130-acre royal estate is at the edge of the nearly 5000 acres of the Forest of Marly, which is separated by only a mile from the nearly 9000 acres of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Visited together, a leisurely day of cycling and touring can include both forests, with stops at the Museum and Estate of Marly at the edge of the one forest and at the Castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye near the edge of the other.

If coming from Paris, take RER A to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, whether bringing a bike from Paris (your own or a rental) or renting one in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. You can take a bike on the RER A from Paris during the week outside of rush hour, meaning other than 6:30-9:30am and 4:30-730pm, as well anytime on weekends and holidays. In Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Cyclou rents bikes from the edge of the forest, near the swimming pool about 500 yards from the chateau up Avenue des Loges, though with limited weekday opening times (see their site for details). Also see Bikook for e-bike rental.

Begin by visiting the Castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which houses the National Archeology Museum, and the castle gardens. Then bike at your own rhythm for a couple of hours through the two forests before visiting the Museum and Estate of Marly. You’ll use your GPS or a biking app to navigate through the forests. Route des Princesses is the mile-long stretch of non-forest biking between the two. From Marly it’s possible to bike down to the Seine and/or to the Chateau de Monte-Cristo before returning to Saint-Germain. But that involves street biking, so you might want to just keep this as a forest biking day and return the way that you came.

The Saint Germain Tourist Office, a 3-minute walk from the RER station, 3 rue Henri IV, provides information about the town and about surrounding towns along the nearby loops in the Seine, including Marly-le-Roi. This area is located within the department of Yvelines, which includes the western and southwestern suburbs of Paris.

Château Louis XIV

As you travel about in these western suburbs you might not see the wealth, but it’s there. For example, you won’t be seeing Château Louis XIV unless you’re in the habit of hanging out with Saudi royalty. It’s near Marly, in the town of Louveciennes, in the direction of Versailles. Château Louis XIV is a contemporary echo of Marly and Versailles. It was built on a 57-acre property in 2012 by Emad Khashoggi (read: big money from the Middle East further developed in Europe) as a high-tech version of a 17th-century-style chateau. Three years later, the property reportedly sold for 275 million euros, reportedly to the crown prince of the Saudi kingdom. Press reports at the time called it the most expensive private property in the world.

© 2020, Gary Lee Kraut

The post The Royal Estate of Marly: Absence, History and Splendor appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Indeed it is… Lost, but easily found from Paris on a daytrip or better yet an overnight into the Chevreuse Valley.

The town of Chevreuse serves as capital of the Regional Natural Park of the Upper Chevreuse Valley (Haute Vallée de Chevreuse), which encompasses a portion of the valley of the narrow Yvette River.

Regional Natural Park status doesn’t mean that the valley is all forest and wilderness; it’s rather a designation that protects the zone’s landscape, agriculture and woodlands and that controls the development of its towns and villages, all the while allowing its castles to stand out as they have for hundreds of years.

The park’s main tourist office is in the medieval fortress Chateau de la Madeleine that overlooks Chevreuse, a pleasant valley town of 6000 twelve miles southeast of Versailles, 25 miles southeast of Paris. The suburban train line RER B extends south from Paris to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, 1½ miles from Chevreuse. (See “Logistics” below)

Despite Chevreuse’s attraction for a pleasant stroll, lunching options, and a hike up to the castle, the town isn’t excursion-worthy by itself. But Chateau de Breteuil, several miles away, is.

That may be a standard and easy refrain of the heirs of historical properties open to the public, a post-19th-century form of noblesse oblige. Yet Mr. de Breteuil, born in 1943, has indeed devoted his much of his adult life to safeguarding and sharing the honor and, where possible, the glory of his home. Mr. de Breteuil not only talks the talk but also walks the walk, it seemed to me as he showed me around his chateau one afternoon after lunching together in Chevreuse.

“Call me Henri,” he said, when we first met.

Inside the chateau, visitors encounter assorted ancestors (government ministers, ambassadors, bishops, etc.) and prestigious acquaintances (Louis XVIII, Proust) of the Breteuil family in the form wax figures representing scenes in the life of the chateau or of the family.

As fascinating as it is to an American to learn of a 400-year family connection with a historical property, the most telling aspects of Mr. de Breteuil’s ownership/ trusteeship/ stewardship come from his own lifetime, in particular the difference between his own ties to Breteuil and his late father’s desire to flee such ties.

Mr. de Breteuil’s father saw the ancestral home as a ball and chain prohibiting him from living out his dreams, for not only was he the heir to the Breteuil name but also heir to the New World since his mother was American.

After his mother’s death (his father had died previously), the elder Breteuil went to the United States to settle her estate and decided to settle there himself along with his wife and young Henri. (I call him Henri here only to avoid the confusion with his father but otherwise he’s still Monsieur de Breteuil to me.) But his wife preferred to stay in France, where she directed a theater and where, according to Henri, she envisioned their son’s future. The couple divorced and Henri’s father soon remarried an American, as Henri’s grandfather father had, but this time with the intent of staying in the United States, where he had a second child, Henri’s half-sister. His father wished to sell the chateau, but Henri, in his 20s, decided to take on the full responsibility of restoring and maintaining the ancestral home, joined soon in his devotion but his wife Séverine. Take it if you’re that attached to it, his father more or less said.

(As a youth, Henri spent summers in the United States visiting his father and, rest assured, is quite fond of Americans.)

Together Henri and Séverine restored, renovated and reinvented Chateau de Breteuil to open it and its grounds to the public as we see it today. Séverine de Breteuil passed away in 2009.

The current chateau was built largely in the early 1600s, replacing the ruins of a fortified castle. Of the medieval fortified castle only the dovecote (colombier), with its 3200 pigeon niches, remains, dating from the end of the 15th century. It now houses an exhibit “Breteuil à Table,” with 3D reconstitutions of renowned paintings of mealtime scenes from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

The chateau itself, built of brick and stone, was then called the Chateau de Bévillers. It took on the Breteuil name when inherited by Claude-Charles le Tonnelier de Breteuil in 1712. Successive partitioning of the property in the 20th century and finally, in 1967, between Henri and his half-sister, have amputated the Breteuil domain of much of its original land, yet the heart of historic Breteuil—the chateau, surrounding buildings and landscaped park—remain as part of the 185 acre estate.

Breteuil, like other private homes open to the public, offers a glimpse into the interplay of historical nobility and contemporary tourism. And if you’re fortunate enough to encounter Henri-Francois de Breteuil along the way—not an unusual occurrence—you will also gain insights into the personal and particularly French sense of heritage and transmission.

Chateau de Dampierre

Dampierre is another private chateau in the Chevreuse Valley, just a few miles from Breteuil. Designed by Jules Hardouin Mansart in the 1680s for the Duc de Chevreuse it is more imposing than Breteuil, as is to be expected from the architect who left major markers of French architecture during reign of Louis XIV, including the Hall of Mirrors and the Grand Trianon among other additions at Versailles, Place Vendome, Place des Victoires, and the dome of the Invalides in Paris. However, it has less the personal, emotive stamp of its owner than Breteuil. Dampierre is open from April to September for guided tours only but makes for a photogenic drive-by at anytime.

Abbey of Vaux de Cernay

For an overnight consistent with the historical and natural theme of a visit to the Chevreuse Valley, look about four miles southeast of Breteuil and Dampierre to the Abbey of Vaux de Cernay.

The hotel is built around the ruins of the abbey, which was founded in the early 12th century by monks from Savigny who then aligned themselves with Cistercian rules. The abbey’s main structures were built as the institution grew from the 12th through 14th centuries. Pillaged during the Revolution, its ruins were later protected and the full domain reconstituted under the ownership of the Baron Rothchild family beginning in 1873.

It is now owned by Les Hotels Particuliers, a hotel group (part of the Savry Group) that transforms formerly more or less abandoned private properties of historical value into hotel complexes. The group currently has fourteen such properties in France, mostly in locations that are, at least for the time being, little known to American visitors.

Remaining usable portions of the abbey have been integrated into the public spaces of the hotel while the roofless, windowless walls of the abbey church testify to both its enormity and the 800 years of history that have passed this way. The public spaces draw inspiration or actual architecture from the Gothic period. The bedrooms of this superior 3-star establishment range from the comfortably monastic (125€) to the expansive apartment (655€). They are decorated without extravagance but in the spirit of restful tradition. The restaurant beneath the Gothic arches serves traditional French cuisine.

If visiting the area by car, Vaux de Cernay, which lies between the chateaux of Breteuil and Rambouillet, is worthy of a coffee/teatime stop even if not spending the night.

Rambouillet

Rambouillet is located just outside of the Regional Natural Park of the Upper Chevreuse Valey, but its close enough (seven miles from Cernay, ten miles from Chevreuse) and green enough to be associated with the above explorations.

The Chateau de Rambouillet has the status of a Presidential Estate, though it’s rarely been used by recent French presidents other than for the occasional meeting with heads of state or international conferences. It is otherwise open to the public on guided tours and is the point of departure for hikes and biking into the Forest of Rambouillet.

At its heart Rambouillet is a fortified castle built in the late 14th century though it has been repeatedly modernized over the centuries. King Louis XVI purchased it in 1783 to take advantage of the hunting grounds of the nearby forest. Though the king was tone-deaf to the troubles that would soon be brewing in his kingdom, he was up to date on the science of selective breeding of farm animals. Under him, Swiss cows, Spanish and African sheep and angora goats grazed here. Napoleon, who also enjoyed Rambouillet, added horses and buffalos to the farm. The National Sheepfold (Bergerie nationale) of Rambouillet still exists.

Louis XVI also had a dairy built for Marie-Antoinette’s pleasure, as with the Queen’s Hamlet at Versalles, and Rambouillet’s Queen’s Dairy, without the cows, can also be visited. Visits of the interior of the castle, the Queen’s Dairy and an exquisite thatched cottage can be visited by guided tour only, departing almost hourly. Closed Tuesday.

Green travels continue in the 50,000 acres of Forest of Rambouillet that spread out beyond the castle’s park. Information on hiking and biking routes on the forest are available at the tourist office near the castle.

Ferme de Coubertin

Exploring the Chevreuse Valley and the Forest of Rambouillet is green enough to make a visitor want to find some fresh goat or cow cheese to make a picnic. And that’s possible at the Ferme de Coubertin, a farm with 60 milk cows and 25 goats along with rabbits and pigs, just a half-mile from the Saint Remy les Chevreuse RER train station, where this report started.

Along with purchasing fresh dairy products, you can visit the farm and watch the cows and goats being milked in late afternoon.

With proper timing you can stop at Coubertin Farm to pick up a dairy picnic before setting out to visit the valley or visit the cows and purchase some cheese before taking the train back to Paris, as I did.

Logistics for visiting the Chevreuse Valley and Rambouillet

Weekending Francilians, as inhabitants of the Paris region (Ile-de-France) are called, are likely to have a car when visiting the Chevreuse Valley and so are able to visit the various sights mentioned in this article without much logistical consideration. If you’ve got wheels, use them.

Using public transportation and taxis requires more forethought but is possible as well as adventuresome.

The easiest way to reach the area by public transportation is to take the RER suburban train line B to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, then setting off by taxi or by bus (Sundays only April-Oct.). RER B runs north-south through Paris (Gare du Nord, Chatelet, Saint-Michel, Luxembourg, etc.), with one of its branches (verify that you’re on the right one) reaching Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse in 50-55 minutes.

The town of Chevreuse is 1.5 miles from the Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse RER station, so that might be your first stop. There’s regular bus service between Saint-Rémy (from the station) and Chevreuse and less regular to Choisel (then a walk to Breteuil), Dampierre, Cernay and Rambouillet. You can always get somewhere by bus, if not everywhere, and in any case close enough on a nice day to finish on foot (excluding Rambouillet). A sweet smile in the parking lot at Breteuil might also get you a ride to your next destination.

If sans bus (and sans smile) you might take a taxi directly to the Chateau de Breteuil from Saint-Rémy, 3 miles away. Vaux de Cernay Abbey is a few miles beyond it in one direction, Dampierre a few miles in another.

On Sundays and public holidays from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, a bus service called Baladobus makes the rounds several times per day from the Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse RER station to the Chateau de Breteuil, 20 minutes away, as well as to Chevreuse, Vaux de Cernay, Dampierre. With careful planning by bus (inquire at tourist office for schedule) it’s possible to hit several of the highlights of the immediate area on a leisurely day or a Saturday-Sunday or Sunday-Monday overnight.

An alternative approach without a car is to begin at Rambouillet, reached in a little over an hour by train from Paris leaving from the Montparnasse station. Rambouillet makes for a daytrip on its own.

A 36-hour adventure from Paris can involve arriving at Rambouillet and departing from Saint-Remy-lés-Chevreuse (or vice versa) and visiting the sights in between according to your touring interests.

Official information websites and details

Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. There’s a tourist information office across from the RER train station, open Wed., Sat., Sun. and holidays.

Regional Natural Park of the Upper Chevreuse Valley 

Chateau de Breteuil, Choisel, 78460 Chevreuse. Tel. 01 30 52 05 02. Guided tours set out at 2:30pm daily, with an additional tour at 11:30am Sunday and holidays. Can be visited without a guided tour. A creperie stand is open early April to late October. Picnics are welcome at any time.

Chateau de Rambouillet 

Forest of Rambouillet 

 Abbey of Les Vaux de Cernay (hotel), 78720 Cernay la Ville. Tel. 01 34 85 23 00.

The Coubertin Farm, Ferme de Coubertin 

Yvelines Tourist Information.  The sights mentioned in this article are all found in the department of Yvelines, which also includes Versailles, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Maisons-Laffitte, and other towns east and southeast of Paris.

© 2012, Gary Lee Kraut

The post Beyond Versailles: The Chevreuse Valley, Breteuil, Vaux de Cernay, Rambouillet appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

For one, the town’s Notre-Dame Quarter has one of the most attractive market squares in the Paris region, part of the planned 17th-century layout that fans out from the palace. The current covered markets that enclose the square, Halles Notre-Dame, date from 1841.

It’s along that market square that Patricia Boussaroque, freshly graduated from the celebrated Ecole Cordon Bleu in Paris, recently set up a cheery and intimate kitchen-workshop, where she offers two- and three-hour cooking classes in the preparation of classic (and occasionally contemporary) French dishes and desserts.

In Paris there are dozens of possibilities for taking cooking classes lasting anywhere from one hour to one year—in schools, in kitchen supply stores, in restaurants, in private homes—so one needn’t go out to Versailles from the capital just for several hours in a kitchen. But what’s special about the prospect of an easy-going class with Patricia is the way in which it can contribute to a full, leisurely day in Versailles, both town and palace.

As a chef Patricia doesn’t have decades of professional culinary experience in her hands since for twenty years she worked in the corporate world in human resources. Until recently, tying on an apron had largely been an amateur passion not a career. Her atelier cuisine is now the result of well-baked career change.

After obtaining her Grand Diplôme from the Cordon Bleu in the spring of 2009, she found this unique location by the market to install a bright, convivial kitchen-workshop and began sharing her passion as a professional in September.

Set dates for daily classes in French are posted on Patricia’s website, yet the most enjoyable way to include a cooking lesson from Patricia on a Versailles outing would be for you and your traveling companions to arrange a private class. Patricia, who speaks fluent English, can either privatize an already scheduled class for your own small group or create a special class for you outside of the posted schedule, beginning with a tour of the market below.

Patricia’s affable, easy-going approach to cooking classes make them attractive to casual chefs, a group of friends, or families looking to bring home some French culinary experience and more than a taste of history when they visit Versailles.

© 2009, Gary Lee Kraut

L’Atelier Cuisine de Patricia, Place du Marché Notre-Dame, 4 rue André Chénier, 78000 Versailles. Tel. 01 71 42 82 42. www.lateliercuisinedepatricia.com.

Halles Notre-Dame, the covered markets of Versailles, are open Tuesday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The best time to visit is when food market stalls also occupy the square outside from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.

Note: The palace, the Notre-Dame market, and Patricia’s atelier are all closed on Monday.

The post Patricia’s Casual Cooking Class in the Town of Versailles appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a self-confident town of 40,000, far enough from the capital for an easy escape into the country, close enough for an easy commute (13 miles west; 30 minutes by RER line A1), and central enough among the western suburbs to attract well-heeled shoppers.

The train station spills out directly in the heart of town, within a few steps of its chateau, an imposing, largely 16^th-century structure with hardly a hint of elegance. The chateau incorporates earlier foundations, a 14^th-century tower, and a chapel that was built beginning in 1238 on orders of Louis IX. Ten years later Louis IX had the same architect, Pierre de Montreuil, design what would become the crown jewel of French royal chapels, the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Walled in with a later expansion of the chateau and naked of stained glass, the most dramatic feature of Saint-Germain’s chapel is the skeleton of its rose window that lords blindly over the room.

The chateau houses the Museum of National Archeology, which presents a major collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age art and craftsmanship along with other objects dating up until the Early Middle Ages. Visit it or not, no pressure here.

The chateau’s general lack of French panache is explicable by the fact that this is actually the Old Chateau. The New Chateau, built in the latter half of the 16^th century (Henri II, Henri XIV) overlooked the terrace at the far end of the garden-park that once stepped down in a mix of French and Italian grace toward the Seine a few hundred yards away. All that remains of the New Chateau is the corner room where Louis XIV was born, now part of Pavillon Henri IV, the appealing hotel described further below.

The birth of the Sun King at Saint-Germain-en-Laye continues to be the town’s marker of historical pride. The king’s bassinet, a fleur de lys, and castle towers decorate the town’s logo, along with an oak leaf indicating the forest nearby, while the hotel uses an older, more kitsch version of the same themes, with the words Ici Naquit Louis XIV, Here Was Born Louis XIV.

To stand in the footsteps of the king, however, you need only stop at the terrace overlooking the plain that spreads across the winding valley of the Seine to Paris. The terrace is part of a redesigning of the royal park by Andé Le Notre, who was then also working on the gardens at Versailles. The view now leads to La Défense, the business zone rising just west of the capital though on a clear day the upper half of the Eiffel Tower can be seen poking out of the horizon to the right of the towers. The view from here is pensive rather than majestic, but subtract the distant tours and the lights at night and add a terraced garden leading down to the Seine and you’ve got the all-mine view of French sovereigns prior to the great perspective through the gardens at Versailles.

High royal times in the New Chateau at Saint-Germain-en-Laye lasted for only about 60 years, until Louis XIV turned his palatial ambitious to Versailles in the 1660s. Unwilling to invest in repairing the leaks in the New Chateau he actually moved back into the Old Chateau for a time, before abandoning the town altogether in 1682 and allowing the New Chateau to fall into ruin.

The Old Chateau nevertheless managed to maintain some of its royal airs when Louis XIV allowed his first cousin James II Stuart, king of England 1685-1688 (and, as James VII, of Scotland scarcely longer), to live out his exile here. James II is entombed inside Saint-Germain Church, across the street from the chateau. A marker in English surprisingly refers to the Sun King as Lewis XIV, which may be payback for the French calling James Jacques.

English—the language at least—has a strong foothold in Saint-Germain-en-Laye nowadays in part thanks to the highly respected international school that opened in 1951 for the children of military officers and noncommissioned officers of NATO’s Supreme Headquarters who were stationed here. Since NATO’s departure in 1966 the school has catered to the children of local globalists and foreign businessmen and functionaries.

In addition to reminders that Lewis was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the town honors two other favorite sons. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was born in the building now occupied on the ground floor by the Tourist Office. A museum dedicated to the composer is located upstairs in the apartment that belonged to his family. The artist Maurice Denis (1870-1943) lived a few blocks from away, and a museum dedicated to and other painters of the Nabis group and their post-Impressionist friends occupies his former home.

The Tourist Office provides a brochure outlining a walk-by of historical streets, sites, and homes through the center of town. With or without any museum visits, and with or without the map for that matter, zigzagging through the town center makes for an attractive shop ‘n stroll. Add lunch, a café stop, and decent weather and you’ve got a sweet and easy daytrip, even half-daytrip, for the leisurely return traveler.

Overnighting

Saint-Germain-en-Laye will speak to the oft return traveler to France, and it will whisper sweet nothings to the those in search of a romantic night, a confidential meeting, or even a heartening bit of solitude. To those, take note.

The grand old hotels of Europe that long ago melted from fashion are among the most atmospheric finds in the continent’s hotel landscape. I’m referring to those grand hotels found in what now seem like unlikely towns whose names once resonated with aristocrats, celebrities, well-heeled travelers, and the occasional politician.

No longer representing high luxury yet holding their head high, no longer abundantly staffed yet able to offer a guest an honorable nod in the hallway, no longer catering to aristocracy yet not quite overrun by groups, able to promote their history without tirelessly promoting the logo of an international chain, the grand old bypassed hotels of France are at once romantic, wistful, comfortable, soothing, and eerie—on a cold or empty night one invariably thinks of “The Shining”—as well as relatively affordable.

Pavillon Henri IV is one such hotel. Having suffered the indignities of being used exclusively for banquets and meetings in the 1980s and 1990s, Pavillon Henri IV has in the past few years been raising its head. With only 42 rooms and 3 suites, even a group of business travelers can’t eradicate its odd, spacious note of warmth. So what if it doesn’t all sparkle with luxury, it’s got that undeniable, grand old hotel feel.

Its wide gallery lounges, its squeaky parquet floors, its long hallway rugs, its vast rooms, its expansive, old-fashion dining room with a nonstop view over the Seine Valley, and its mixed air of lost grandeur and not-quite revival offer a whiff of the grand tour of yesterday, which can, for some, be just the right spice for a European night. All that—plus the historical remnant where Louis XIV was born and summarily baptized—for the price of a cramped if charming 3-star hotel in Paris.

I can easily imagine an off-season overnight here: touring and shopping in the afternoon, a sunset view from the terrace, a tender hour of drinks in the gallery lounge, a gracious dinner in the hotel restaurant, another hour in the gallery lounge (cognac, armagnac, calvados?) before going up to your bedroom for one last gaze out the window at that wide, yearning view toward Paris, reminding you that you’ve traveled far and that soon enough you’ll be back in the world.

* * *

Links and information

Pavillon Henri IV, the hotel described above. 19-21 rue Thiers, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Tel. 01 39 10 15 15.

Cazaudehore La Forestière is a second notable hotel and restaurant in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It’s a Relais & Chateau offering countrified luxury within the forest on the edge of town. Its situation is less practical for those traveling by train but is worth considering for those exploring car. 1 avenue Kennedy, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Tel. 01 30 61 64 64. .

Town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye: www.ville-st-germain-en-laye.fr.

Tourist Office: 38 rue au Pain. www.ot-saintgermainenlaye.fr.

Musée Claude Debussy: 38 rue au Pain. Tel. 01 34 51 05 12. Open afternoons Tues.-Sat. Entrance through the tourist office. Free.

Musée Départemental Maurice Denis: 2bis rue Maurice Denis. Closed Mon. www.musee-mauricedenis.fr.

Department of Yvelines: www.tourisme.yvelines.fr. Yvelines is the area comprising Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Versailles and other notable chateaux or parks, including Rambouillet, Marly-le-Roi, Dampierre, Maisons-Lafitte, Thoiry, Breteuil (in Choisel), Chevreuse. It’s possible to spend several days exploring the area both for its history and for its sporting possibilities: golfing, hiking, biking, tennis.

Information on Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s relationship with its sister city Winchester, Massachusetts: www.jumelage.org.

Museum of National Archeology: www.musee-antiquitesnationales.fr. Closed Tues.

International School of Saint-Germain-en-Laye: www.lycee-international.com.

Getting there

Saint-Germain-en-Laye is 13 miles directly west from Paris. Suburban trains, RER line A1, leave every 10-15 minutes from Paris, arriving in the center Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 25-30 minutes.

Saint Germain en Laye is 9 miles north of Versailles. Public transportation between the two towns is possible by bus (40 minutes) or by RER via La Défense (1 hour).

Saint Germain en Laye, like Versailles, is just off the highway for those driving to/from Giverny and Normandy.

Historical endnote: France’s first train line, opened in 1837, was the Paris-Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, making Saint-Germain and points en route the country’s first escape destinations of train age. RER line A1 follows the same path today.

© 2007 by Gary Lee Kraut

The post Saint-Germain-en-Laye By Day, Pavillon Henri IV By Night appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.