Rich and luxurious, Maisons-Laffitte is a northwestern suburb of Paris where you'll almost stumble across castles and castles.
True to this image of old money, the commune is a center for equestrianism, with the largest horse training facility in the Paris region. You can live a life of leisure as a lady or gentleman might have done in the 19th century, watching horseracing, going for a round of golf and taking turns in the same large park where the royal family used to hunt. As with the Château de Maisons there, a palace selection is a few minute's drives away, while Paris is never a short train. Discover the best things to do in Maisons-Laffitte.
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1. Château de Maisons
François Mansart’s majestic Château de Maisons is a milestone in French cultural history as one of the first Baroque palaces in the country. Nobody in France has seen anything like that, and after the castle was completed in 1651, people would travel far just for a glimpse.
It was commissioned by René de Longueil who lost his job as Superintendent of Finances in 1651 after putting on an excessively lavish party here, arousing the suspicion of Louis XIV. The interiors were refitted in the 1700s by the Comte d’Artois, and are an opulent fusion of the prevailing Classicism and Mansart’s Baroque style.
There is also an inner museum that traces the castle's relationship to horseback riding and the Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte.
2. Parc de Maisons-Laffitte
It wasn’t just the château that was spectacular, as the park’s design was also overseen by René de Longueil. At the time, the park had a stable for rivals Versailles and Chantilly, but when Jacques Laffitte bought the property, he divided the 300-hectare plot and sold the land to solemn residential quarters.
Only the gardens closest to the château were kept and re-landscaped in the English style. It’s now a historically-charged environment for a restful walk or bike ride, with two long, tree-lined avenues connecting at right-angled in front of the château.
3. Forêt de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Maisons-Lafitte lies to the east of this 3,500-hectare forest. The deep oak and beech and woodland here was once a royal hunting ground: Kings from Henry II in the 16th century to Charles X in the 1800s would ride these trails for sport.
Today, from June to August you could come for the Fête des Loges on the eight-hectare Promenade des Loges. This is essentially a six-week funfair with 160 rides and amusements, involving anything from old-school carnival games to white-knuckle rollercoasters.
The Allée des Cuisines is also set up for the event, with specialties from Bavaria, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, and India.
4. Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte
It’s only natural that a town accustomed to nobility and equestrianism should have a racing track. But the Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte from 1878 is out of the ordinary; it’s a 4.68-kilometer course on the flat, longer than any in France.
The main straight is two kilometers in length, making it the longest in Europe along with Newmarket in Suffolk.
If you’re into horseracing there are three big races to put in your diary: The Prix Robert Papin and the Prix Eugène Adam are both in July, while the Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte is run in October and November. All three are high-profile Group II races.
5. Villas Remarquables
It is well worth poking around the many intersecting boulevards that were drawn in the old Parc de Maisons-Laffitte from the late 19th century onwards. These are traced by jaw-dropping villas, most of which are protected as French historic monuments.
Among them is the Maison Doulton, which was designed by England’s Royal Doulton pottery company for the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris and moved here after the show.
If you love decorative architecture you can download a list of mansions or consult the tourist office for a comprehensive list.
6. Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
For over 700 years, French kings and emperors have called this house château. It was a favorite residence for Francis I, who married his queen Claude de France here in 1514. Each resident left his mark on the property, and the many different renovations have left layers of history to pore over.
This also makes it the ideal venue for the National Museum of Archaeology, with galleries starting in the Palaeolithic Age and ending in the Merovingian Period in the 8th century.
There’s a ton of vital artifacts to see, like the gold tableware in the Gallo-Roman Trésor de Rethel and the astonishing Venus of Brassempouy, a 25,000-year-old ivory carving of a woman’s head.
7. Chapelle Saint-Louis
Set close to the château is this masterful Gothic chapel built on the orders of Louis IX in 1238. If you know Paris well you might spot the similarity with the Saint-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité, and that’s no coincidence as both buildings were designed by the same man, Pierre de Montreuil.
It has a nave with a single aisle and an apse with windows that span the floor to the vaults. The main event though is the lapidary collection inside, which has carved plaques believed to portray Louis IX and members of his family, which would make them the earliest portraits of a French king.
8. Grande Terrasse de Saint-German-en-Laye
The most unforgettable element in the estate is this terrace that overlooks the Seine Valley. This walkway is 2.4 kilometers long and 30 meters wide, with an avenue of newly replanted lime trees.
One side is the deep Forêt de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and on the other is the skyline of La Défense and beyond that, you can make out Paris landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. The terrace was built by the vaunted landscape architect André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV in the 1670s.
This is also one of the last surviving vestiges of the former Château Neuf, demolished in 1770.
9. Villa Savoye
In nearby Poissy, there’s astounding architecture from another era. Villa Savoye is an early-1930s masterpiece by the Modernist Swiss architect Le Corbusier. It encapsulates Le Corbusier’s design philosophy as summed up by his seminal “Five Points”, and is the building most experts pick as the epitome of his Internationalist style.
Like many of UNESCO's modernist wonders of this UNESCO site, commissioned by a wealthy couple in Paris, demolished until it was rescued and restored in the 80s and 90s. The interiors have mostly been kept clear to let you appreciate the villa’s incredible spaces bathed in light by the window walls.
10. Château de Malmaison
If you head south and follow the bend in the Seine round towards Paris you’ll arrive at the Château de Malmaison.
It’s impossible to overstate the significance of this property, which was bought by Napoleon and Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1799 and would be the home of the Empress for the rest of her life.
The interior is an enthralling museum with the couple’s possessions, and Joséphine’s lavish apartments kept as they were when she lived here.
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from : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-maisons-laffitte-708951.html
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