Today we are taking an excursion out of Paris to Moret-sur-Loing. This lovely little village is about 45 minutes by train from Gare de Lyon and you can use a normal train ticket so the return trip is £5.

We were inspired to leave the French capital by one of our favourite instagrammers Ainsley Durose a pastry chef who lives in Paris and has made some great posts about day trips out of town, if you love all things French I would highly encourage you to follow her, she is devine 💕.

Moret–sur–Loing is famous for a number of things, its barley sugar, the impressionist painter Alfred Sisley who lived here for the last twenty years of his life, its incredible medieval history and its beauty.

The walk into the village from the station takes a leisurely 20 minutes and along the way you get a sense of how lovely this place will be. There are lots of signs along the way so you can’t get lost, unless you want to of course.

The wonderful fortified medieval gate Porte de Samois is the first sign of this “Remarkable heritage site”. This is a real term, I promise, and not one I made up, but do absolutely support the description. The further we go along the cobblestoned street the more you can imagine the hustle and bustle of this once royal town which dates back to the 11th century.

The Catholic Church in this town is the Church of Our Lady the Nativity with the construction taking a little over two centuries, it is on the site of an old Romanesque Church. It was famously consecrated by Pope Thomas a Becket. It’s a really understated when compared to its city counterparts, without all the glitz and glamour and its simplicity somehow makes it even lovelier.

This church is also known as Notre Dame in Rue du Donjon. I was a little confused incidentally so thought I’d mention it in case you’ve looked it up and are as well.

Out of the Church and we continue walking down the hill towards one of the reasons that we were so attracted to visiting Moret-sur-Loing, the beautiful bridge Pont de Moret-sur-Loing which spans the Loing River. The bridge was built in the 12th century and it was part of the fortification of the town and was a medieval gateway to Normandy. What an impressive title for an impressive bridge.

In the picture below, taken on the bridge you will see the mill just behind us. This mill has had lots of different jobs over the years including as initially as a tannery (hence its name), a saw mill and then a flour mill.

Before making our way to the bridge we walked past a number of lovely shops with lots of options for lunch. If you are coming here don’t bring anything, the food is glorious and much cheaper than Paris, and you’ll be supporting the locals. The patisserie we stopped at was jam packed with tourists and locals, and it didn’t disappoint, 9€40 for a baguette. quiche and a drink.

Back across the bridge I know that there was a castle here and we just need to find it. And we do. The Chateau de Moret is now a private residence and so you can’t go inside, although I understand from looking at the website you can hold an event there which would be lots of fun I’m sure. It dates back to 1160 and was built by King Louis VI, and used as a residence by many a royal family. On the website it tells a little about the history including its transformation by Louis XIV into a royal prison.

Its most famous prisoner was Nicholas Fouquet who was guarded here by the Kings Musketeers. My French history is obviously lacking as whilst Fouquet’s name is familiar I couldn’t quite place him and I know about the four musketeers of course… but are these the same musketeers? My sincerest apologies to those who know his story, you can skip this part (or correct it 🤣) but here’s a quick synopsis for those who don’t. Nicholas Fouquet had an opulent lifestyle and held great parties, so great that King Louis XIV got cross and perhaps jealous. He charged Fouquet with embezzlement and had him imprisoned. On further reading it does appear that he did owe a lot of people a lot of money… but perhaps if his parties hadn’t been so good he may not have died a prisoner. The moral to this story could be – don’t be to flashy, don’t steal, don’t borrow money you can’t repay and keep the King on your good side.

What a wonderful and inexpensive day! It is so easy to take a day trip out of Paris if you are looking for something different to do. You can do it easily by yourself if you don’t want to be tied to a tour group. And it cost us €20 for both of us including lunch, these are the sorts of days Steve loves 🤣. We walked heaps, smiled lots and declared to finish the day at another local pub just down the road from where we are staying for happy hour drinks.