FONTAINEBLEAU, PARIS, ARRAS AND PROVINS.
A FOUR DAY TRIP FROM OUR BASE AT SAINT-SIMÉON – LE GRAND MONT
A short four-day trip with my parents took us on a whirlwind tour of some great sights in northern France during what turned out to be the hottest June on record.
It was a semi low-budget affair, staying in a two-bedroom apartment at Saint-Siméon. More about that later, but it turned out to be the perfect base..
The trip coincided with both Father’s Day and France’s annual Festival of Music. However, we didn’t take advantage of the latter, mainly because of the intense heat. It was ridiculously hot and would have been madness to spend too long wandering around town and city centres. Indeed, France was placed on high alert because of the temperatures, something that doesn’t happen very often. News reports afterwards confirmed we had made the right decision.
We took the entire trip at a slower pace than we normally would have done, but even so, still managed to pack a lot in.
ARRAS
On the way down to our base we stopped in Arras, a little gem we discovered three years ago on a similar trip. We thought we’d bring my parents here as it sits around 90 minutes south of Calais and conveniently en route to Saint-Siméon. It’s the ideal lunch stop, being only a few minutes from the A26.
The town is centred around two interconnected cobbled squares, both lined with beautiful Flemish-Baroque buildings, with restaurants, cafés and shops occupying the ground floors.
Emma’s great-grandfather served here during the First World War, when Arras sat close to the front line and suffered extensive damage from artillery bombardment. Much of the town was painstakingly rebuilt afterwards, and today you’d hardly know it had once been reduced to rubble. The Belfry of Arras, together with the town hall, is now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We decided to venture up the belfry and were rewarded with superb views across the surrounding countryside before continuing our journey to our destination, a small village around an hour east of Paris.
OUR BASE – SAINT-SIMÉON, LE GRAND MONT
We booked a quaint two-bedroom cottage and quickly settled in. We largely used it as a base from which to explore the surrounding towns, villages and countryside, while also making the most of the facilities on site.
The swimming pool was an ideal place to start the day before breakfast, while the private indoor and outdoor dining areas provided somewhere to relax with a bite to eat at the end of each day.
With uninterrupted views across the rolling French countryside, Emma and I had the pool entirely to ourselves on two of the three mornings. We’ve discovered that, out of season, the only people who tend to visit places like this (and many other HPB sites) are retirees and families with pre-school children.
The result is plenty of elbow room, with long periods where you rarely see or hear another guest.
PROVINS
A short drive from our base was the medieval town of Provins, which hosts a popular Saturday morning market that had been recommended to us.
We headed off in search of some food and to soak up a little French culture for a few hours.
However, we ended up staying much longer than planned because this place has far more to offer than a market.
Provins is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in France and another UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the 12th and 13th centuries it was famous for its Champagne fairs, attracting merchants from across Europe and becoming one of the continent’s most important trading centres.
Today, visitors can explore its impressive ramparts, underground tunnels and the imposing Tour César, a 12th-century keep that has served as a watchtower, prison and bell tower over the centuries.
For the second day in succession, we found ourselves climbing to a high vantage point, taking in impressive views across the surrounding countryside before eventually heading back to our base far later than intended.
DAY TRIP TO PARIS
Just up the road from our accommodation is the railway station at Coulommiers, from where trains reach Paris in around an hour.
We discovered on our previous visit just how affordable rail travel can be in France. After a little research, we found a day ticket costing roughly £10 that not only covered the return journey into central Paris but also provided unlimited travel on the Metro for the entire day.
This proved incredibly useful and meant we didn’t have to worry about buying separate tickets or queuing throughout the day. We also made sure to validate them properly this time, unlike our last visit!
We opted for a circular walk, starting at Notre-Dame before following the Seine towards the Louvre, then continuing via Place de la Concorde and on to the Eiffel Tower.
The extreme heat put pay to any plans of seeking out music venues or staying into the evening for the Festival of Music celebrations.
Emma and mum accidentally walked over a ventilation grid for the metro and turned into the Marlyn Munroe twins, much to the amusement of passers by!
We stopped for refreshments at Café Le Grand Louvre and later at La Mascotte, near Pont de l’Alma. The former was an excellent place for people-watching, just a short distance from Pont Neuf, while the latter offered surprisingly good value considering many nearby establishments appeared to increase their prices by around 50 per cent simply because the Eiffel Tower was within sight.
FONTAINEBLEAU
After checking out of our accommodation, we headed to the Château de Fontainebleau, which was not only considerably closer to us than Versailles but also far cheaper to visit.
Perhaps because of the time of year, or more likely the extreme weather, the place was remarkably quiet.
The château contains more than 1,500 rooms and was home to French monarchs for over eight centuries. In total, 34 kings and two emperors left their mark here, including Napoleon Bonaparte, who regarded Fontainebleau as his true home.
Oh and look, top-left, a long moat resembling somewhere else, only this one is blue!
This was probably my personal highlight of the weekend. We spent several hours wandering around the extensive grounds, which are free to access, and exploring the lavish interior rooms, although a few areas were closed because of the heat.
The estate is so vast that it really warrants another visit when conditions are less oppressive. Next time I’d also do a little more research beforehand and book a guided tour.
It was the perfect way to round off our whirlwind trip through the region, leaving us with a relatively straightforward drive back to Calais while avoiding central Paris.
Hints and Tips
TRAVEL – We booked a eurotunnel 5 day saver return, which worked out at £29 per person per crossing. Crossing which are under five days attractions a special rate. There were some local delays both outbound and on our return, but nothing that ruined the trip.
TRAIN – We used a Navigo Easy card and paid €12.30 for a Zone 1-5 all-day access to trains and the metro. This meant downloading the île-de-Frances app from the AppStore, and following the instructions to purchase a one day pass. This was relatively easy to follow, although we did get some help from our HPB agent. On arrival at Coulommiers Station we made sure to validate all four of them even though I could prove payment had been made, and they were only valid for one day.
ACCOMMODATION – We booked via HPB which worked out at around £25 per person per night. For this we got a two bedroom apartment, with kitchen, dishwasher, washing facilities, two swimming pools, a tennis court and games room. Link here for the usual details.
