The gradual deconfinement will limit the walks of Parisians to a radius of 100 km around the capital: but don’t worry, you will already have plenty to do! This area roughly corresponds to Île-de-France, and many natural sites (there are in particular 4 regional parks or 2700 km2 of unspoiled nature) will allow you to reconnect with nature and the feeling of freedom, while that high places of French culture will not fail to seduce you with various assets.
Some suggestions …
Warning: some parks, museums, and accommodation in this article are still under the law declaring a state of health emergency and have not reopened their doors to the public. Double-check your destination before leaving.
The forest of Fontainebleau
The Fontainebleau forest offers 500 km of marked trails, and there are many unusual sites to discover during a weekend. Climbers in particular will find the famous “blocks” where they can climb without ropes or carabiners, equipped with color codes to indicate levels, which range from beginner children to experienced climbers. But you can also peacefully enjoy the vast expanse of sand at Cul du Chien, right in the middle of the forest, or take the 25 moguls circuit, a not so easy route for hikers. And for a night in a refuge, the Auberge de la Dame Jouanne in Larchant offers you as a bonus excellent homemade dishes, unless you prefer to bivouac in one of the three authorized areas.
Rambouillet forest
This forest covers an area that is double that of Paris, covering 22,000 hectares. Several hiking trails will offer walkers exciting routes, but here we bring you just three, one of 14 km, a second of 11 km, and the last, the longest, of 29 km. The first leaves from Perray station to reach Rambouillet, along the ponds linked by an aqueduct supplying the gardens of the Palace of Versailles; the second go around the ponds of Holland, also from the Perray station, and their superb setting is above all a privileged place for birds, which will delight ornithology enthusiasts; finally, the longest of its hikes go from Rambouillet to Orgerus, in the heart of the forest, also crossing fields and charming villages, and for which to provide picnic and drink.
The Upper Chevreuse Valley
It is renowned as one of the most beautiful countryside in France, and today you can rent electric vehicles to travel it in a very ecological way, bicycles or small cars. In addition to walks in the forest of Rambouillet, discover the castle of Dampierre, an architectural treasure built in the 17th century, surrounded by its English-style park, crisscrossed by canals, planted with camellias and rhododendrons, and populated by deer and wild boar. For athletes, a course of 90 bumps in the natural park challenges you with its 55 km long and its drop of 2000 meters. Finally, the Château de Chevreuse offers you its medieval architecture, its rampart walk, its guard tower, and superb plunging views over the valley and the village. Do not leave, especially if you are with children, without having visited the Bergerie Nationale, a model farm on more than 200 hectares, where you can observe dairy cows and Merino sheep, draft horses, and goats frolicking in freedom. And to satisfy your desires for nature, the Huttopia campsite welcomes you in the middle of the Rambouillet forest in its typical cabins and its natural chlorine-free swimming pool, unless you prefer the more traditional comfort of Hibernia, a set of guest rooms at Rochefort-en-Yvelines, gathered around a patio with a panoramic view over the roofs of the village.
Auvers-sur-Oise
The village of Auvers-sur-Oise is known for the omnipresence of Van Gogh, who spent the last weeks of his life there in 1890 and painted more than 70 paintings there, including “The Church of Auvers-sur -Oise” and the “Champs aux Corbeaux”. You can visit the castle there, which will plunge you into the heart of the Impressionist movement, with projections of famous paintings and a sound system that completes the visit with stories and anecdotes about the artists of the time. Also to be discovered, the room, which has remained intact, of Van Gogh at the Auberge Ravoux, where the painter died with his brother Théo by his side, as well as the Absinthe Museum, the famous Green Fairy friend of artists, where to see the objects needed for this ritual and the plants from the garden with which to prepare the magic drink and to spend the night.
Giverny and its gardens
The gardens were perfectly maintained during the confinement, and even if some species will have flowered and then withered away from view, such as the sumptuous wisteria, the house and the garden of Claude Monet will welcome you with all their usual splendors: water garden and bridge Japanese, water lilies and azaleas, the interior of the house and its flamboyant yellows, but also the Museum of Impressionisms and its two annual exhibitions, as well as the former Hôtel Baudy, which was frequented by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Rodin, Sisley, and which today displays a 1900 decor and offers simple and succulent dishes on the menu.
The gardens and the Monet Museum are for the moment closed but the village of Giverny and its surroundings are still very pleasant to visit.
The Palace of Versailles
In addition to the Hall of Mirrors and the King’s large apartments, the Palace of Versailles has more than 2,000 rooms, which you can explore with a guide: you will then have access to the private apartments of Louis XV and Louis XI, which are simpler and more intimate: watchmaking workshop, games cabinet, dispatches cabinet, so many more secret places to admire far from the crowds. In the large stables of the castle, you can attend every Sunday morning the working sessions of the National Equestrian Academy, with the famous horses of Bartabas, and if you wish, applaud the show The way of the squire, which takes place twice a weekend.
