Trip Report: Chateau Pierrefonds

We wanted to head down to Blois and rent bikes to ride through the the Loire Valley to visit chateaux.

However, as we were looking to book train tickets down to Blois it was clear that the weather was going to be very average on the weekend. We decided that as much as we were keen to head out biking; we weren't that keen to go biking in the rain. We looked around the country and found that if we headed north the weather was likely to be finer.

One place we have been keen to see for a little while is the chateau/castle at Pierrefonds. However you can't get there by train. So we decided it seemed to be a good opportunity to do our biking, but up north.

We caught an early morning train up to a town called Compiegne. We had called the Compiegne bike rental company beforehand. They normally opened at 2:30, which was a little later than we wanted to start. Thus we called them and asked if they could open early for us. They said they could open at 10:30 for us. Sometimes learning french pays off.

We had to walk to the entrance to the Compiegne Forest. The bike rental people pull up in a van at the forest entrance where you pick up your bike.

We got our bikes and headed off to Pierrefonds. There is a paved cycle path all the way from Compiegne to Pierrefonds. It made a very nice and easy bike ride. Took us about an hour to get there.

Biking the cycle path to Pierrefonds

Pierrefonds is a nice town. It felt quite wealthy. The weather was coldish and overcast but not too bad. Our first stop was the castle.

First view of the castle

View of Pierrefonds across the town square

The castle was originally built between the 12th century and the 14th century. It was attacked in the early 1600's and was significantly damaged and was abandoned. It wasn't until the late 1800's when the castle was bought by Napoleon III who had it restored in a romantic style.

Entering the castle

Inside the courtyard

Drainpipes

Statuary

The castle isn't lavishly decorated alike a Versailles or a Veax de Vicompte but the outside is one of the more impressive castles we have seen. The inside is very spartan. We took our bikes up, there wasn't anywhere to park them but the security guard said we could put them beside the security booth.

Inside the castle chapel

The great hall

Looking across the courtyard

We looked around inside for about an hour. We were pretty much the only ones there. The highlights we the chapel (apparently the only chapel with the pulpit above the choir), the collection of statuary from the original chateau, and the collection of plaster casts of funeral statuary. The funeral statuary was made several hundred years ago and were originally at Versailles. They were moved to Pierrefonds for safekeeping where they are now on display.

A somewhat hard to make out photo of the funeral statuary

The chateau closes at around 1. We took the opportunity to bike around the town trying to get a good view of the chateau. We biked up a hill thinking we could get a good view from the top of a hill beside the chateau. Unfortunately there was no access to a good view from the top. We headed down into town to have lunch. There was a lake area where we pulled up the bikes and sat beside the lake for lunch. I had made a Spanish Torte. And we had some other bits and pieces.

Pierrefonds castle walls

Looking over Pierrefonds town from the castle

Once we had finished lunch we headed back to the chateau to look at a few final things. There were a lot more people at the chateau when we had returned. Partly, I think, because if you were driving from somewhere else in France it would probably take you until the early afternoon to get to Pierrefonds, but more likely because French people really don't do so much in the mornings.

Last view of Pierrefonds

Once we had finished at the chateau we saddled up our bikes and headed back into the forest. We took a turn off the cycle way and headed on the road through to our next stop.

Marshall Foch, in the First World War, chose the forest of Compiegne as the sight for the Germans to sign the armistice. The French arrived in one rail car on one side of the clearing, the German representatives arrived in another car on the other side of the clearing and they met for three days in a separate rail car in the middle of the clearing. Now there are concrete plinths showing where the event happened.

Looking across the armistice clearing

Site of the signing of the armistice

Hitler returned to the clearing when he defeated the French in World War Two and forced the French to sign their surrender in the same rail car, in the same clearing, at the same time of the day as the World War One armistice. They then took the rail car to Berlin where it was eventually destroyed.

Now at the site there is a small (but really interesting) museum. They have built a replica of the rail car which takes pride of place in the museum. They also have a lot of memorabilia from the armistice and WW2.

Replica rail car

It was then time to jump in the bikes and head back to Compiegne. We had to navigate through some of the back roads in the forest (including some pretty sandy patches) to get back to the cycle way.

I think we were the first ones to rent bikes that day and we were the last ones back.

We had time to have a snack in Compiegne before we caught the train back to Paris.

Trip report: Angers

OK, so easy to read the above title like we are angry - but not so - it is in fact the name of a city at the end of the Loire valley and is pronounced An-jay.

We chose to head down to Angers on Friday night rather than catch an early train on Saturday morning. The train ride was only 1h30 and the first train leaves 07h30 on Saturday morning so it is easy to get to from Paris on Saturday morning for a weekend or just a Saturday if you prefer.

We arrived mid-evening and our sandwiches on the TGV hadn't quite hit the spot, so we decided to go out and look at the town and get something to drink since it was a nice night. We saw a number of buildings, which we knew none of, and found the castle and the cathedral. The castle is one of the key sites of Angers, but I will save that till later to discuss (its amazing by the way). Eventually we found a nice 'place' (French courtyard between streets) - The Place Sainte-Croix- which is just behind the cathedral and is surrounded by medieval buildings. It was a nice place to relax on a warm summers evening before heading back to our hotel.

Angers church at night

Angers castle at night

Angers cathedral

Our 'place'

Another church in Angers

One of the major problems in France is often finding somewhere that does breakfast. Every now and again you can find somewhere that does something reasonable for breakfast, but most of the time it is coffee (which is not too bad) and croissant (which is reasonably bad - or at least not what we wanted for breakfast). The time was no exception - we looked at a ton of places with no luck. Eventually we found an area with a lot of restaurants, which looked like they had some lunch food which would substitute for breakfast food. We ordered an omelette and also bruschetta. The omelette, besides the fact that it came with fries which I can't stomach for breakfast, was ok. When we ordered the bruschetta, we thought it would be nice fresh tomatoes and basil (the way the Italians do it, as bruschetta should be). Turns out it was a mass of cheese on bread with half a tomato cut up - very disappointing - be warned re: French bruschetta. So we needed to find a second breakfast -we found a little place that did orange juice and yogurt on the place Sainte-Croix and we felt better.

For the middle of the afternoon we decided that we would rent some bikes and explore a little further outside of Paris and so we rented bikes and headed towards the park on the far side of the river (Parc de Balzac). I would recommend booking bikes in advance in Angers as it is a popular destination to rent bikes from.

The view crossing the river

We biked down the river as far as Savennieres, which with the exception of one reasonable hill, was quite flat and ride-able. The town is quaint with a 10th Century church and a nice little Tabac/cafe/bar to refresh at. We were feeling pretty tired from the week and thankfully one of the three trains that stop at Savennieres (the station is Savennieres Behuard) was due in 40 minutes.

10th Century church in Savennieres

Before dinner we followed the "Circuit Angers Historique" on the east side of the river. The circuit is a walk of the historic sites of the city. We had seen many of the sites on the west side during the day and through our walk the previous evening, so we focused on the east side. It is not packed with sights on the east side, but it makes for a nice evening walk and has some great views of the castle from across the river.

The castle from across the river

For dinner, we first explored the main eating area - Place du Ralliement - but found the eating a little bland and uninteresting. There is a little side street called Rue des Deux (2) Haies which has some smaller and more interesting places to eat. We were tempted by a Cambodian restaurant. It was a really really good meal - like the great Indian meal we had in Switzerland, sometimes things surprise you.

Anyway, we were quite finished for the day, so we headed back to the hotel.

The next day we did not have very long to spend in Angers before we had to catch the train - basically just the morning. But it was time for the castle.

The castle is one of the big highlights of Angers. It has huge grey towering walls with uniquely rounded towers. The castle also has some great gardens in the dry moat.

Castle walls

Gardens in the moat

We took the only entrance into the castle (on the right side of the castle if you are standing outside the tourist office on Place du President Kennedy), which has a proper portcullis and everything. Then, inside the castle it gets less industrial and more, well honestly, "french". There is a formal garden area, a chapel and the formal living areas. Like a little mini castle inside a castle. Or probably better put, a chateau inside a castle.

Main entrance to the castle

We spent some time exploring the castle grounds, including the rampart walk - all of this is better shown in photos than explained in words......

Inside the castle - Gardens in front, chapel on the left, chateau on the right

Chateau inside the castle

Looking up to the chateau and the chapel

The chapel through the castle's vineyard

Photo of an aerial photo of the castle

The other major attraction at the castle is an immense tapestry called the Apocalypse Tapestry and it is the largest and the oldest French tapestries in existence. It dates from the 1300's and is a graphical representation of the whole of the book of Revelation. It is quite stunning. Divided into sections, each with their own header panel, the tapestry must be one of the best depictions of the book of Revelation I have seen. It was awesome.

One wall of the Apocalypse Tapestry

Part of the second wall

And after having had our fill of the castle, it was time to board the train to return to Paris.

A last look at the Angers castle

For details on travel to Angers and what to see and do see www.beyond-paris.com/angers.

Trip Report: Mont Saint-Michel from Paris

Several weeks ago my partner organised a secret weekend for us to Mont Saint-Michel (MSM). The Mont is somewhere we have wanted to get to since we moved to France, however it can be a little difficult to get to from Paris by public transport.

We made a weekend of it (two nights away) although you could probably do it in less.

We left Paris, from Gare Montparnasse, on Friday evening. The train ride from Paris is about 3 hours to a small town called Folligny. Folligny is a small town in the middle of nowhere, with little to see and do, but thankfully the connecting train didn’t take too long to come through.

The closest town to MSM which has a train line associated with it is Pontorson. We arrived there in the evening and stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast called Le Belle de Mai. The rooms are clean and well decorated and the proprietor is very friendly, but the highlight was definitely the breakfast. One of the best breakfasts I have had in Europe. Fresh breads, pasties, hams, local cheeses, cereals, fresh fruit, confiture, etc.

Pontorson is 9KM from MSM. There are a number of places in town that rent bikes at reasonable rates. The one we chose was the Pontorson camp site. They have good 18 speed bikes available. The camp site backs on to the river and there is a path beside the river on which you can bike down to MSM completely avoiding the roads. The bike ride is a flat, easy 9K with great views along the river and of some of the small towns closer to MSM. If you don’t want to bike there are buses and taxis from Pontorson down to MSM.

There is a parking area before you reach the causeway to MSM where all cars need to park and where you can catch the free bus over to MSM (although it is an easy walk as well). There are places here to park your bike as well.

We walked over to MSM rather than take the bus. There is a main entrance to MSM which is easy to find, although at high tide the water can cover this entrance meaning you need to use the less easy to find side door. It is on your right as you walk onto the wooden walkway for the main entrance. It isn’t always open, but it appears to be unlocked.

Inside MSM there are a number of routes you can take, although they pretty much all lead to the abbey, which is the focus of the island. Most people walk up the main road/path which is steep and filled with shops and restaurants on both sides. If you take a side road to your right and climb the stairs you end up on the ramparts which have a nice view over the bay as you climb around. This route is generally less busy and has more stairs. If you take a left turn you can climb up through the cemetery and through the backroads. This route has the least people of any of the three, however there is a lot less to see.

However you climb up through the Mont (and it is a reasonably steep climb) all roads lead to the abbey at the top.

The three roads mentioned lead to the forecourt of the abbey. From here it is a steep set of stairs up to the ticket counter. There are a number of options available at the ticket counter. General entry, Simple Tour (offered in multiple languages), full tour (offered only in French). We took the full tour, although we are not fluent in French we spoke enough to take in what was being said in general terms. The advantage of the full tour is that you get to see rooms not available on the other tours, but it does take 2 hours. There is also an audio guide option.

The MSM abbey is effectively several layers of buildings, built on top of each other, to give the end result that is the abbey today. All the tours start at the top, in the main church, and move through the various eating and entertaining halls. The full tour shows you some of the smaller chapels, including the original 13^th century chapel, inside the abbey complex.

Once we had finished the tour we took lunch at one of the restaurants on Mont-Saint-Michel. Our experience was that many of these are very touristy, more expensive than on the mainland and that, at least in the restaurant we went to, the food was adequate but nothing to write home about. After lunch we explored the rest of the island. There is another church to visit, and some small streets to walk around, but by early afternoon we had done much of what there was to see on MSM (and this included a nap).

Given we had the bikes, we took the opportunity to bike through the countryside. There is a bike map available from the Pontorson tourist office and may also be available from a hotel (we got ours from our B&B) which has some marked trails. They aren’t especially well marked on the roads, but the trails take you through a number of small French villages and give you some different views of MSM. We biked out to the German War Cemetery at Huisnes-sur-Mer which was a sobering experience (although be warned, they close around 5pm). Biking around this part of Normandy is reasonably easy. We don’t usually bike and are only moderately fit and found it relatively easy going (with the exception of the hill into Huisnes-sur-Mer).

As it became evening we biked back to MSM to watch the sun go down. On the rampart section of MSM (on your right as you go into the main part of MSM) there are a number of bars and restaurants with views over the bay. Some have better views than others. It is a great opportunity to take a small diner. We took a cheese plate and a plate of sliced meats which we then followed up with dessert. As the sun set on the opposite side of MSM we could watch the shadow of the abbey as it grew. We also got the opportunity to watch the tide come in. The tide at MSM is one of the fastest and strongest in Europe. It is literally like a tsunami coming in. It is fast and high. The ground around the base of MSM goes from mud to covered in water in about 10 minutes. If you get the chance to watch it, it is worthwhile.

We then caught the bus back and picked up our bikes from the bike park. It is worth noting that there is quite a lot of construction going on at MSM at the moment as they remove the old carpark (right by the entrance to the city) and build a new access way. They are attempting to make it more similar to how it used to be before the carpark at the entrance which will be a very nice change as the existing car park is not a nice addition (and also gets covered with water at high tide –hence it is no longer in active use).

We chose to stay at Pontorson for a second night in order to maximize our day at MSM. It would be possible to take a train back to Paris in the evening.

We had to be back in Paris on Sunday afternoon so we caught an early train out. We took a routing through Caen where we had about an hour between trains so we explored the castle of William the Conqueror who had his base in Caen, although there are other things to see there as well. If you are doing a tour of Normandy, Caen has a great WWII/D-day museum called the Caen Memorial Centre for History and Peace. It is an excellent museum which could easily take a day in itself. We spent a half day there previously and in the morning took their D-Day beaches tour, which was through, informative and excellent value. It would be possible to do Caen and MSM over 2 days before heading back to Paris.     

Photos and specific itinerary information is available at: http://www.beyond-paris.com/mont-saint-michel.html