"How to Enjoy the Ile de France" Île-de-France by hquittner

As a region the Ile-de-France gets little tourist respect. Most people visiting Paris cannot tell a banlieu from real town around Paris (and have no way of knowing where they are). It is hard for me. The region consists of the Ville de Paris at the center, constrictrd by the Peripherique {the evercrowded 2x2 laned highway that circles the city). It is surrounded by seven departments named: Seine-et-Marne, Essonne, Yvelines, Haut-de-Seine, Seine-St.-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val d’Oise (10.7+M pop.). From the center tentacles strech out in all directions in the form of superhighways and others as RER Lines. (In places the Metro barely reaches the into the edge of the departments.). As a tourist the “Famous “ out of town sights are a part of visiting Paris and access to them is learned : by tour-bus, by RER, by Metro plus bus. These are not recognized as Ile sights. If you keep visiting France, you usually become interested in Chateaux, Palaces and Cathedrals and these are present in large numbers around Paris and planning to visit many of them requires better planning. Remarkably, as you leave central Paris, the areas of population density are spotty and there are real towns and villages within 50 km of the center. And the Ile is not a circle. Senlis and Chantilly are only 50 km from Paris and are in Picardie (30 minutes by SNCF), while Fontainbleau is in the Ile (60 km).

Fontainbleau Old Town Near Palace

From visit 3 we adopted a better way to see the sights of the Ile. We had already concluded that we would make at least 7 long visits over the years and that we would have to fly into Paris (Orly or de Gaule). We would get a car there and AVOID Paris completely using day1 (maybe 2) and the last day as places to visit with an easy car return on emplaning. It is remakable how many modest (2* Logis de France) appropriate inns with fine restaurants( 1-3 fork) you can find if you look (and today with easy telephone and e-mail too; a luxury we did not have). If you want it upscale (and when young we did) there are others (chateauxhotels.fr) with table d’hote meals.There used to be intense sessions of route planning and figuring the backroads to and from airports and towns but the GPS has eliminated the need for that skill and the French have become tolerant of the abuse of their language.

• Pros:Much to See and Do
• Cons:It Takes Planning
• In a nutshell:It is worth it.