There’s so much to see in Paris and thanks to the country’s fantastic public transit system, many other cities can be seen while keeping base in the capital. Here’s a list of places that are easy to get to via train that will help you fulfill your French bucket list.

First: what qualifies as a day trip? A day trip here is defined as someplace you can get to from 1 train (or bus) ride that is 2-1/2 hours or shorter. There are many other day trips depending on how determined you are to get there, but I decided … Continue reading

Continuously inhabited since it was a Roman city, Avignon is a place that has experienced centuries of exciting history. A stone’s throw away from Marseilles, Avignon also played Seat of the Papacy from 1309 til 1377, the only other time the Seat was in a city other than Rome. If the extended history of this city in Provence isn’t enough to entice you, the charming town it is today most certainly will.

Avignon is such a great city because it beautifully incorporates different parts of its history into one. It still retains its medieval structures such as the city walls … Continue reading

If you’ve any interest in French history, you may have heard of the castles Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte. Both are located not in the Loire Valley but the Île-de-France region and have a lot of history behind them, as many French chateaux do. On my return to Paris, the urge to see such monuments brought me on a day trip.

Fontainebleau

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fontainebleau has a history that goes back almost one thousand years. A keep (castle tower) was built there in 1137 and a monastery hospital was built there a century later. King Philip IV of … Continue reading