Ile de France - South Attractions

Barbizon (pop. 1,490), south of Paris on the edge of Fontainebleau Forest, gave its name to the Barbizon school of painters, a loosely knit group, including Corot, Millet and Daumier, who broke away from the classical academic school of studio painting and painted direct from nature. Visitors can see Millet's studio. The Musée de l'Ecole de Barbizon has works by Rousseau, Diaz, Troyon, Charles Jacques and other artists as well as various items illustrating the history of the town.

Champeux, southeast of Paris, has a beautiful church (1160-1315) with a fine interior (stalls of 1522).

Châtenay, south of Paris, was the birthplace in 1694 of Voltaire. The church of St-Germain- l'Auxerrois was built in the 11th C. and altered in the 13th. The Maison de Chateaubriand was the home of the writer René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) for more than 10 years.

The Château of Marais, southwest of Paris, built in 1770 on the basis of an older castle, is a fine example of the architecture of Louis XVI's reign; it now houses a museum.

The old town of Etampes (pop. 21,842), south of Paris, has many handsome old churches, including Notre- Dame-du-Fort (12th-13th C.; fine sculpture on south doorway), St-Martin (12th and 16th C.), St- Basile (12th, 15th and 16th C.) and St-Gilles (12th, 13th and 16th C.). From the Tour Guinette, an old keep of 1140, there is a good general view of the town. There is a museum of local history.

Larchant (pop. 695), south of Paris, is an old fortified town with a pilgrimage chapel of St-Mathurin (12th-13th C.). It contains fine 12th C. wall paintings and other Romanesque and Gothic works of art. Nearby is the Massif de la Dame Jehanne, a range of sandstone crags which is popular with rock- climbers.

Le Maison de Chateaubriand in Châtenay-Malaby has been carefully restored and currently sits in the center of a very picturesque woodland.

Nemours (pop. 12,901), situated in the Loing valley, has a church dating from the 13th, 15th and 16th centuries. The castle (12th and 15th C.) houses the Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France, which also has a number of tapestries.
Nemours is 75km south of Paris.

Southwest of Paris are the remains of this important 13th C Cistercian abbey - Port Royal des Champs, which has associations with Pascal and Racine. This center of Jansenism (a Catholic reform movement directed against the Jesuits) was destroyed in 1710-1712 on the orders of Louis XIV. The building known as the Petites Ecoles now houses the Musée National des Granges (history of Jansenism).