![\"Basilique-Cath\u00e9drale](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/626-Basilique-de-Saint-Denis-et-Maison-d-education-de-la-Legion-d-honneur-vues-depuis-le-beffroi-de-l-hotel-de-ville-Pascal-Lemaitre-dis.jpeg\")
Photo: Basilique-Cath\u00e9drale de Saint-Denis<\/p><\/div>\n
Basilique-Cath\u00e9drale de Saint-Denis<\/b><\/h3>\n
Although Notre-Dame Cathedral might be the world\u2019s most famous Gothic cathedral, the first built in this style is sitting on the norther edge of Paris. Started in the 1130s, the church was constructed above the presumed grave of one of <\/span>France\u2019s earliest saints, Denis, who was executed by the Roman rulers of the times in around 270 AD. Over the centuries the church rose in prominence and became the final resting place of France\u2019s monarchs, holding the remains of all but three of kings from the 10th century until 1789. Visitors today can admire the royal tombs while gazing up at the church\u2019s flying buttresses, pointed arches and stained glass windows.<\/span><\/p>\n Chateau de Vincennes (top) and Bois de Vincennes boat-rides<\/p><\/div>\n A quick jaunt outside the eastern border of Paris will take you to this impressive medieval fortress and sprawling woods. A royal hunting lodge dating back to the mid-12th century, in the 1300s King Charles V added the imposing 52-metre-high donjon, the tallest in Europe and still standing today. Although the royals used it as a residence over the centuries, it was never revamped like castles of Versailles or Fontainebleau. The fortress was eventually converted into a prison, which held some infamous prisoners such as the Marquis de Sade and Louis XIV\u2019s rival Nicolas Fouquet. Pack a picnic and make a day of it by carrying on your explorations in the adjacent Bois de Vincennes. The huge woods has kilometres of pathways, a lake where you can rent out boats, a Buddhist Temple and a botanical garden, le Parc Floral de Paris, which hosts a variety of events including open-air concerts, mostly in summer.<\/p>\n Skip the crowds at Versailles by venturing to this marvellous castle southeast of Paris instead. Another favorite hunting retreat of the royals, King Francois I redesigned the castle in the Renaissance style. It features opulent rooms decked out in elaborately carved wood, paintings, mirrors and more. The castle was also a favourite of Napol\u00e9on Bonaparte, who refurbished parts of it in the Imperial style. Behind the castle are beautiful gardens \u00e0 la francaise<\/i>, or to better connect with nature, spend the afternoon exploring the forest\u2019s extensive hiking trails. If you visit on Tuesday, Friday or Sunday, before heading to the castle, you can pick up some picnic supplies at Fontainebleau\u2019s food market.<\/p>\n While visiting Monet\u2019s home and garden in Giverny can make for a nice art excursion from Paris, there is much more to see, and far fewer crowds, in this charming village briefly inhabited by and the final resting place of Vincent van Gogh. Strolling through town, helpful panels show you the various places the Post-Impressionist painter captured on canvas, copies shown on the boards and many of the originals are displayed at the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay. You can also visit or have lunch at the inn he lodged at, the Auberge Ravoux, and pay homage to the troubled artist at his grave in the local cemetery. The town has several other sites, including a small castle, various art studios and homes of other 19th century artists and a museum dedicated to Absinthe<\/span><\/a>. On summertime weekends the town often holds art or music festivals.<\/p>\n Photo: Provins Tourisme<\/p><\/div>\n If you\u2019d like to get a taste of France without going too far, then consider visiting this medieval town east of Paris. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the beautiful hilltop village thrived over the centuries due to its position as a fiefdom of the Counts of Champagne and its popular fairs, which still take place before Christmas. A visit at any time of year will delight thanks to its magical historic centre home to the Tour C\u00e9sar fortress, stone churches, narrow lanes and protective city walls.<\/p>\n Photo: Street art by C215, Vitry-Sur-Seine \/ Paris Tourisme<\/p><\/div>\n For something more offbeat, considering visiting this close southeaster suburb popular with street artists. The city is home to MAC\/VAL<\/span>, France\u2019s only museum dedicated to contemporary art from the 1950s to today. In the shadow of a towering Jean Dubuffet statue, the contemporary building houses over 2,000 works by both well-established names like Christian Boltanski and Annette Messager, and up-and-coming artists. After visiting the museum, continue your artistic discoveries in the streets of Vitry, where you\u2019ll come across hundreds of works by French and international street artists like C215, Indigo, Kashink, Swoon and Alice Pasquini. This artistic flourishing has <\/span>earned the city the title of \u201cCapital of Street Art.\u201d You can find the works easily using this helpful map<\/span><\/a> and discover more about Parisian street artists in our article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n With its hundreds of museums, intriguing historic sites and vibrant neighbourhoods to discover, there is plenty to do in Paris. However, it can also be nice to get away from the busy city centre, have a change of scenery or take in some nature. Luckily, Ile-de-France, the greater Parisian metropolitan area, has an abundance of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74581,"featured_media":2088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[252353,250817,124,172971,173001],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2060"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2107,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060\/revisions\/2107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"Bois](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/Bois-de-Vincennes.jpg\")
Ch\u00e2teau et Bois de Vincennes<\/b><\/h3>\n
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![\"Chateau](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/48984976337_de8be7980b_c.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nCh\u00e2teau et Foret de Fontainebleau\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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![\"Auvers-sur-Oise\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/22194843900_80c6307539_c.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nAuvers-sur-Oise<\/span><\/h3>\n
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![\"provins\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/cite-medievale-de-provins-1.jpeg\")
Provins<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/paris-news\/files\/2021\/08\/Street-art-C215-Vitry-sur-Seine-_-630x405-_-\u00a9-starkart.org-via-Flickr.jpg\")
Contemporary Art & Street Art in Vitry-Sur-Seine<\/h3>\n
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Looking for other interesting things to do in Paris? Carrying on your exploring with these articles:<\/h4>\n
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