5 Incredible Day Trips from Paris (That Most Tourists Miss)

Paris is obviously amazing but the best of France can often be found in the little towns and villages that surround the big city. From medieval streets to sprawling gardens, in this video we're going to take you to the best secret small towns near Paris. This is Seau and it's a beautiful town around 10 kilometers south of Paris. It's best known for its stunning chateau and surrounding gardens which were laid out by Today you can visit the domain for free. You can also go inside the chateau which has been transformed into a museum and explore the beautiful town. It's also pretty famous because in the spring a cherry blossom festival is held here. Seau makes for a particularly pleasant day trip from Paris as it's easily accessible via a direct train on the RER B. It's around 30 minutes to get here from the city center meaning that it's a quick day trip and once you get here there's several things to explore. The grounds you see today date back to the 17th century though after the French revolution the grounds were turned over into an agricultural college. This was eventually sold off and today the grounds are owned by the French state for the French people to come and enjoy. In the spring and summer this is one of the best places in Ile de France to come and have a picnic. If you're looking at these gardens and think they might look a bit familiar because they resemble those of Versailles you wouldn't be wrong and that's because André Le Nôtre is often considered to be the father of French landscape gardening and he designed the palette of Versailles gardens as well as these ones. One of the defining features of the garden at Seau is the grand canal. This stretches around one kilometer and was dug out during the 17th century. Today if you're feeling a bit adventurous you can actually rent rowboats on the other end. Just a short distance away from the grand canal you'll come to the falls. These were also created in the 17th century and empty out into an octagonal pool at the bottom that is connected to the grand canal. The head of the falls is actually some mascarons which is a decorative element representing faces and it was sculpted by Rodin. This whole area was actually completely renovated in 2021 although unfortunately for some reason the fountain isn't on today. Right next to the orangery you'll find the garden of the orangery. This is yet another lovely space that's filled with flowering plants although we're a bit early in the year as most of these flower in June. Right now let's go into the chateau. There's been a chateau on site here since at least the 16th century however during the French Revolution the state seized the chateau and sold almost all of its contents. Everything that could be taken out stripped down and sold was. The grounds themselves were sold to a merchant from San Malo later on and he decided that the original chateau wasn't worth saving and it was almost razed to the ground. The only thing that now remains are the gardens, the orangery and a few other buildings. In the latter half of the 19th century a chateau was built here in the style of Louis XIII. It's all brick with a few stone features. Today it houses a national museum which you can pay a small entrance fee to visit. The chateau museum only takes 20 to 30 minutes to visit. It's set over two levels and inside you'll find all kinds of French treasures. You'll also be rewarded with the spectacular views onto the grounds. We're now going to leave the park as nice as it is to go and see a bit of the town as well as the church. Just across from the market hall you'll find the main church which is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and is 800 years old. Free to visit it can be found right in the heart of town. So it's honestly quite delightful to wander around but there aren't a great deal of attractions here so we're going to walk around 30 minutes to reach a very nice park. If you're able to then the best time to visit so is actually in the late spring when all of the beautiful wisteria are in bloom. This is probably the town closest to Paris where I've seen the most wisteria growing on homes. The Parc de la Vallée Oulu is translated into English as Valley of the Wolves and the history of this arboretum dates back to the 18th century when the owner of the nearby Chateau Briand thought that an English garden would make a nice addition to his estate. At the beginning of the 19th century the pharmacist of Napoleon decided that this would be a great place to start growing rare plants and trees and that's the tradition of this unique arboretum began. Today this is a wonderful green space that's completely free to visit. It's open to the public most days of the week and here you can discover a beautiful collection of bonsais and other gems. One of the best trees to see in the garden is the Atlas Blue Cedar right behind me. It's actually unique in the world and although most Atlas Blue Cedar trees have a straight appearance this is a weeping version and what's particularly unique is that all of the seeds that come from it produce normal cedar atlas trees so it's a scientific curiosity but very beautiful. I think my favourite aspect of the garden has to be the bonsai collection. Many of these delicate little trees are housed within a special glass house and several are over a hundred years old. Fontainebleau is a charming town south of Paris that's best known for its incredible palace as well as its sprawling oak forest which was once a royal hunting ground. Today it's an easy train ride directly from Paris making this a great day out. Like many historical towns in France the centre of Fontainebleau is completely pedestrianised meaning that you can walk around at your own leisure and discover all of the little lanes and shops. If you want to learn even more about Fontainebleau and its surroundings you can pick up a handy map at the tourist office. The church of Saint Louis was built between 1611 and 1614 before being remodelled completely during the second empire. Today you can go in and explore this grandiose space. There are several traditional bistros in town including several near the chateau but we personally opted to dine at La Petite Ardoise as they serve up classic plates cooked to perfection. The chateau is often referred to as the residence of kings because all kinds of rulers of France from Saint Louis to Napoleon I call this architectural gem their home. Indeed the palace has seen 34 kings and two emperors in its time. Although Louis XIV the Sun King is best associated with Versailles it's actually little known that he began his kingship here in Fontainebleau and this is where he took many of his early important decisions. The horseshoe staircase has somewhat become the symbol of Fontainebleau. It was commissioned by Louis XIII and was built between 1632 and 1634. It truly entered into prominent recognition when Napoleon the first said farewell to his guard here in 1814. Today it's very beautiful and well preserved. The staircase is made up of two scrolling staircases each with 46 steps. It's actually recently undergone a restoration project which is why it's so sparkling and new looking now. If it's a sunny day like today then you can come to the gorgeous Café des Marinières where you can enjoy the architecture of Fontainebleau chateau and just soak up the ambiance. Now the chateau has over 1500 rooms and it's actually been transformed into a museum that you can visit for just 14 euro. It's really worth it and there's actually two parts to the museum. There's the Napoleon museum and then also the chambers which is a collection of royal rooms. During the first part of your visit you'll learn all about Emperor Napoleon as well as his two wives because he actually divorced his first wife Josephine due to her inability to produce an heir. Numerous of his personal effects are now on display across the rooms. The second part of the visit is much longer and you could easily spend an hour or two perusing the many rooms of the palace. People often say that Fontainebleau is a great alternative to Versailles and to be honest I would say that there's actually more to see within the chateau at Fontainebleau than there is to see at Versailles. One of the first areas you visit is the papal apartment. This is so called because Pope Pius VII was actually held captive at Fontainebleau for around 18 months following a dispute with Napoleon Bonaparte. The opulence of the palace is truly astounding and several rooms of note include the gallery of Francis I, the living room of Louis XIII, the bedroom of the Empress and the Emperor's bedroom. While you do have to pay to visit the palace itself something worth noting is that the grounds are completely free to explore and you don't have to pay an entrance fee to access them. Even if you don't feel like visiting the chateau there's 130 hectares of parkland to explore. There's lots of beautiful fountains, grottoes and it's just a very lovely day out. One of the defining features of the garden is the canal. This was dug out between 1602 and 1604 during the reign of King Henri IV and today it's 1.2 kilometers in length. If you're looking for a bit of a hidden gem of a day trip from Paris then I highly recommend coming to Moray-sur-Loine. This was the horn of many Impressionist painters and most notably Alfred Sisley who painted Moray many times during the latter half of the 19th century. Behind me is the Porte de Samoa and it's just one example of medieval architecture in town. If you're driving into the town then this is probably the first place you'll see. If you head just behind the town hall then you'll come across this lovely facade. It dates back to the 16th century from the reign of Francois I and it's actually moved several times in France. It came back to Moray a few centuries ago and now is really beautiful to admire. The church of Notre Dame of the Nativity rises up above the rest of the houses in the town and was built between the 12th and 13th centuries. The facade of the house just behind me dates all the way back to the 15th century and inside today you'll find a sweet shop. The recipe for the sweets was actually invented in 1638 by nuns from a nearby convent who wanted to invent a way to treat a sore throat. Medieval history is never too far away when you're strolling around Moray-sur-Loine and the donjon which was built in 1160 has seen several uses over the years including as a royal prison during the reign of Louis XIV. On a road between the church and the donjon you'll find a house where Alfred Cicely actually lived and where he died in 1899. Truth be told one of the greatest joys of a visit to Moray is the chance to stroll along the river particularly during golden hour when everything is bathed in a golden glow. There are several riverside restaurants so we've stopped for a little aperol spritz. Meaux is a beautiful town to the east of Paris with plenty of medieval architecture. The history of the town actually dates back to the Roman period when the area was known as Latinum. Today Meaux is most famous for its cheese which is brie de Meaux and it's been an AOC since 1980 so only cheeses made in this area can be called as such and what's unusual about this particular cheese is that it has to be between 36 and 37 centimetres in diameter. If you want to learn even more about brie de Meaux then you can actually come to the tourist office on Saturdays and Sundays and have a little tasting. Meaux is located along the Marne river but the real draw of the town is heading to the historic city centre and so you only really need half a day here in order to see all of the attractions this little town has to offer. The town hall is absolutely enormous and that's because Meaux is one of the biggest towns in the Seine-et-Marne department. It also marks the entrance way to the old town which is the most historic part of Meaux and is mainly pedestrianised. That is where everything you want to see is situated so let's go and check it out. The cathedral of Saint Etienne is probably the most important historic monument in the centre of Meaux. It dates all the way back to the 12th century though wasn't completed until well into the 17th and there are a number of reasons for this. Firstly the cathedral ran out of money, secondly there was the 100 year war and this has resulted in a beautiful blend of architectural styles including gothic and romanesque. Let's go inside and check it out. Right by the cathedral you'll find this 13th century chapter house. It has a 15th century staircase which is very well preserved and apparently there is an underground tunnel which goes between the chapter house and the cathedral. There's also a bridge which links the two. While we were wandering around we were really lucky to come across someone who actually works in Meaux and he was detailing a few examples of special architecture on the cathedral that not everyone knows about. For example just above me carved out in a very very tiny piece of stone is an archer and actually every year in Meaux there is a spectacle in the summer which recounts the history of Meaux. They're setting up for it right now and during this festival the archer from that stone is used as the character who recounts the story of Meaux. Within the very same courtyard you'll find the old episcopal palace. This dates back all the way to the 12th century and now houses a museum which showcases art from the 16th to 19th centuries. It's right next to our next destination. Right behind me is the entrance to the Jardin Bossuet. This dates all the way back to the 17th century and is named for a French bishop and theologian Bossuet who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries in Meaux. Crecy-la-Chapelle is around 10 kilometers away from Meaux. It was actually created in the 1970s when two smaller villages were merged. Today it's still very very small as it's home to less than 5,000 residents. It's often referred to as the Venice of Brie because of the fact that the central church is surrounded by ringed moats. It's very lovely to stroll around although it's quite hard to get to by public transport from Paris and so I would probably only come here if you're already going to Meaux by car. When Crecy was known as Crecy-en-Brie it would have been encircled by three town walls. One of the towers behind me still remains and it's said that once upon a time the town actually had 99 towers. That's probably not true but I did read a joke that it's probably because they counted the reflections in the water. To be honest the very best thing to do here is simply to stroll around and admire all of the beautiful little moats. We've never seen so many dragonflies in one place. I think we saw 10 flying around at one point although they're a bit hard to capture on camera. We've also just seen some people kayaking past so that might be an activity that you can book around here too. The collegiate church of Notre Dame dates back to the 13th century. It's particularly beautiful thanks to all of these amazing flying buttresses. Unfortunately it was quite badly damaged during the 100 year war but it was fully restored and rebuilt and is now very very splendid. Unfortunately it is closed today to visit. I'm not sure when it's actually open you might just have to come to mass in order to see it open but you can peer through the keyhole to have a glimpse of what it looks like inside. Thank you for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe for more France travel content. See you next time!