Vincennes And St-Germain-en-Laye

Both Vincennes and St-Germain-en-Laye make excellent days out from Paris, or even half days as they are both only about half an hour away by public transport. Each has a magnificent castle to visit, plus a range of other cultural, relaxation and shopping possibilities. So here’s a quick rundown, starting with how to get there, following up with what there is to see and do, plus – bien sûr! – a few of the interesting historical snippets linked to each. For much more detail, listen to the podcast which accompanies this post.

vincennes

Visiting Vincennes could not be simpler, because it is on the end of the Line 1 métro, and the stop is helpfully named Château de Vincennes. Even better, the castle gates will be the first thing you see as you exit the station and the other places you might want to visit, such as the Parc Floral, the amazing food market and the tourist office are all within a few minutes’ walk.

The Château de Vincennes

Behind the imposing gatehouse lie the castle grounds, the walls with their 9 watch towers, a 14th century keep and the gothic splendour of the château’s very own Sainte Chapelle church. It was all built by Charles V as a fortification during the 100 Years War and was the country palace of many French monarchs until Louis XIV built the even-more-splendid Versailles in the late 17th century. After a security check, you can wander the grounds for free, but it’s absolutely worth paying to see inside the castle and the church.

You can walk along the four sides of the castle keep, imagining the king’s advisers and servants scurrying along behind him, then visit the King’s Private Apartments. The King’s Bedchamber, actually the room where the English King Henry V died, is the most impressive part. Listen to that story on the podcast as you admire the splendid wood-panelled walls and traces of the original bright colours and gold leaf fleur-de-lys which decorated the ceiling. Other rooms include Charles V’s study, from which he governed France for several months each year, the treasury where he stored the kingdom’s gold and his most precious manuscripts and the terrifying keep, used as a prison where prisoners who’d displeased the king were left to rot.

The stories of some of the unfortunate prisoners are told on the podcast. More uplifting is a visit to the Sainte Chapelle, just across the courtyard from the keep. The intricate carved designs on the outside walls look almost lace-like and the vast light-flooded interior, with its creamy stone walls is the perfect foil for the medieval stained-glass windows. You are free to walk around inside, to seek out the little oratories right and left where the king and queen worshipped and climb up to the stone balcony for a grand view of the whole stunning edifice.

Just behind the château is the Parc Floral, a 28-hectare botanical garden where a few euros buys you the chance to wander the pathways, spot up to 8000 different plants and enjoy a range of play areas and cafes. If you want to play mini-golf on a site where every hole is a mini Parisian monument, this is the place. For the rest of the town, cross the Avenue de Paris, the main road just outside the castle entrance and find number 28, the Tourist Office, where among the many leaflets and ideas is a town heritage trail which will take you on a loop around the town centre in less than an hour.

The route takes you past a whole array of gourmet food shops, from high-end chocolatiers to fancy wine and fish shops and a butcher’s so comprehensive it’s called a charcuterie-boucherie-vollailles-triperie. But the real highlight is the market, all along Rue Fontenay with dozens of specialist stalls, for example cheese from Auvergne and the Cabane de l’Océan where the owner will tell you how he drives through the night to bring the freshest oysters back from the IIe de Ré on the Atlantic coast. Vincennes has other markets, but this is the best and it is open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays until about 1.30pm.

The town trail takes you past the Place de l’Église, where you can pop into the church to see some amazing 21st century stained-glass windows, then on past the magnificent renaissance style Hôtel de Ville which was actually built in the 19th century! You’ll pass through a wide green park with such highlights as a statue of Napoleon’s Général Daumesnil who lost a limb in battle and went on to defend the Château de Vincennes, remarking that ‘I will give you Vincennes when you give me my leg back.’ At the end of the park is a moving war memorial, erected in 2014, exactly 100 years after the men of the 6th Dragoon Regiment marched off to war from here.

st-germain-en-laye

Half an hour on the RER Line A from Châtelet in central Paris takes you to St-Germain-en-Laye and as you exit the station you’ll see the magnificent façade of its château: creamy stone walls, balustraded balconies, romantic towers at each end. Before Versailles, it was French royalty’s grandest château, but today it’s home to the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale, which may interest you in its own right, but even if not, the few euros it costs to get inside are worth it just to see inside. You’ll be able to look out over the central courtyard, flanked by arched walkways and visit the 13th century chapel built by Louis IX, the only French king who became a saint.

Stories told on the podcast include the hunting exploits of the renaissance kings and tales of Louis XIV and his many mistresses. It was also here that James II and Queen Mary fled to live in exile after they had been replaced on the English throne by William and Mary. England preferred a protestant monarch, but the catholic Louis XIV was happy to offer refuge and support to his cousins. The wedding of the flamboyant François I and the shy Claude, Duchess of Brittany took place in the chapel in 1514. It was a subdued affair because the bride’s mother had recently died, described by Francois as ‘a niggardly ceremony, without the pomp due to a royal marriage, even in mourning.’

The château gardens are a highlight, labelled both a jardin remarquable and a monument historique, and comprising 40 acres of formal gardens surrounded by vast expanses of forest. The tourist office provides a useful town trail around streets whose names give hints of the flourishing medieval town this once was: Rue des Coches, from where coaches departed for Paris and the picturesque Rue des Vieilles Boucheries where the old meat market was. It’s now a town of upmarket shops and cafes. The clothes boutiques are very browsable and the renowned Pâtisserie Grandin, founded in 1822, is still famous for its beautifully elegant gâteaux which they’ll box up for you to take away.

Culturally, there’s the Espace Vera, described as ‘a little temple of Art Déco’. It’s a gallery dedicated to the work of the Vera brothers, the artist André (1881-1971) and garden designer Paul (1882-1957) where you can see an eclectic mix of exhibits including tapestry chairs with art deco motifs, geometric garden designs and watercolours depicting forest walks around Saint-Germain-en-Laye. At 38, Rue du Pain is Debussy’s birthplace, now a museum dedicated to him. And if you want to honour him further, the Pâtisserie Grandin along the road sells a Debussy, a chocolate and hazelnut delight dotted with rum-soaked raisins. In short, St-Germain-en-Laye is more than worth a wander.