First time traveling to France since I was a child, we are attending a wedding of some dear friends. We will arrive at CDG around 8am on September 1st and will have a day and a half to explore. We have to be in Méru for wedding activities the night of the 2nd through midday on the 4th. We will then have until the 8th to explore, our flight is leaving out at 10am on the 9th. The original idea was to have a car from the 1st through the 4th or 5th to visit the surrounding areas and then drop the car off and head into Paris on the 5th to explore for a few days? Any suggestions or recommendations?
Posted by
Paris
6916 posts
I would stay in Chantilly or Senlis on the night of the 1st, and explore either one of those towns (or both). Chantilly has a great palace and park, Senlis has a very interesting medieval center. I slightly prefer Senlis, but opinions may vary.
The drive from CDG is very short so still safe after a long red-eye flight, in my opinion.
And you might not have much energy to explore anything that same afternoon anyway, so you really have barely one day before you need to drive to Méru. In the event you manage to run out of things to do, Royaumont Abbey is wonderful.
Méru is close to Senlis & Chantilly, less than 1 hr, so that part will be convenient.
While in Méru, don't miss Gerberoy, a very cute village near Beauvais.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you so much for the advice! Would it be better to visit Fountianebleau or Reims or Versailles before we head to Paris? I was thinking Fountainbleau since it should be less crowded than Versailles, but wasn't sure if that was the best use of time.