For July Olympic visitors, the Ile de France area and Paris suburbs provide a refreshing alternative to the metropolis.
Imagine waking up in late July to the sun peeking through the curtains, birds singing, and a horse neighing. The window overlooks a rider coming to the stables after a canter in the fields.
The Haras de la Clairière riding school offers accommodations on Airbnb for €35 a night. You're one of 2.3 million Olympic ticket buyers. You're smart to reserve a lodging in a remote Paris suburb because the Olympics are spread out.
Le Haras de la Clairière is 60km west of Paris and, while it's a long way to the Eiffel Tower (40 minutes by train from Gazeran to Gare Montparnasse, plus 15 minutes on the metro), it's convenient for Olympic events west of Paris, such as cycling at the Vélodrome at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, equestrian events in Versailles' park, and mountain biking at Élancourt.
On days without Olympic tickets, you may stroll through the Rambouillet forest, which is bigger than Paris, row across the lake in front of the château, or see an 18th-century model farm.
This is one of hundreds of such sites on Paris' bucolic boundaries.
Airbnb expects 500,000 Olympic reservations and finds significant suburban demand near event areas.
Getting around Paris:
The Paris regional transport authority will add 15% extra rail and bus services from 20 July to 8 September. Metro/bus tickets will cost €4 between those dates, while "Origine-Destination" tickets for anyplace in Paris will cost €6/€48 for 10.
Roissy-Charles-De-Gaulle and Orly airport buses cost €16.
No daily or weekly travelcards will be offered during the Games.
For complex bus and rail combinations, Moovit and Citymapper will lead you far into the sticks.
For instance, listing views have tripled in Vaires-sur-Marne, where the rowing and canoeing stadium sits, and in Le Bourget, where the climbing will take place. Booking now is advised as demand is rising.
Even if you're going to city events, staying in the suburbs is cheaper, less touristic, and lets you see more.
Ile-de-France (Paris) has great public transportation. It has 390 rail stations outside Paris, making it congested. French public transport is substantially subsidized, thus even if ticket rates have increased during the Games, a "Origine-Destination" ticket to anyplace in Paris costs €6 (or €48 for 10). That means you can drive 70km south from Notre Dame to Fontainebleau, where there's a stunning château amid a vast forest, for the price of a café crème.
Versailles, 15 minutes from Paris by rail, is another alternative. The castle, gardens, and Marie-Antoinette's toy hamlet are all here, along with an opera theater and the king's equestrian school, where Bartabas performs. Across from the palace is Petit Bouillon Versailles. Bouillons, affordable, traditional eateries pioneered in the 19th century, are the current French restaurant boom, and here is an example.
Or visit St-Germain-en-Laye, 30km northwest of Paris, a charming ancient town with a medieval castle and regular trains to Paris' center in 90 minutes. Also, the British Olympic team is staying there. The Maurice Denis Museum, a former hospital that the post-Impressionist painter acquired and turned into his home and studio, houses some of his most exquisite works.
The track and field events at the Stade de France and the swimming at the Olympic Aquatic Centre and Olympic Village will take place in Seine-Saint-Denis, east of Paris.
The cathedral town of Meaux, where Brie cheese is created, is surrounded by farmland and 46km from the Stade de France (another €6 half-hour train ride). The German army advanced thus far before French soldiers, many of whom were brought to the frontline by Parisian taxi volunteers, halted it in the Battle of the Marne. While not viewing the 400m hurdles or hammer throwing, guests may see the Musee de la Grande Guerre, which has the world's biggest collection of WWI costumes and a French and German trench reconstruction.
Another alternative is Seine-Saint-Denis, which is closer to the action. In the lead-up to the Olympics, France has invested heavily in Seine-Saint-Denis, a poor and crime-ridden Parisian banlieue. A new bridge connects the eco-friendly Olympic Village on a Seine River island to the city. One of the first mega-stations of the Grand Paris Express, which will open in time for the Games and speed up connections throughout Ile-de-France, is here.
Seine-Saint-Denis has several non-Olympic attractions. Saint-Ouen flea market is the world's largest and a goldmine for vintage clothing, antiques, and bric-a-brac. Local musicians perform "gypsy swing" songs popularized by Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt in the Chope des Puces, a small café.
Seine-Saint-Denis is also vibrant artistically and gastronomically. Sidi Bou, near the Paris Aquatic Centre in Aubervilliers, serves the best fish couscous in Paris, while Muse, in an abandoned factory-turned-squat-turned-indie movie production facility in Saint-Ouen, serves African, Creole, Latin American, and French food at low prices. First-name chef Thierry Marx will launch a bouillon in Saint-Ouen this summer.
One of the world's oldest and most magnificent Gothic churches, the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Seine-Saint-Denis's major town, holds the remains of all French monarchs and queens until the Revolution.
The Marché Saint-Denis, Paris' largest and liveliest market, has a riveted iron food hall erected at the same time as the Eiffel Tower a few hundred meters from the Basilica. If you're short-term renting, you should shop here or stop by Délices de Biskra for a cheap and tasty Tunisian snack. Owner Djamila Hadji says she likes the sights and sounds of this market where she's worked for decades. Yes, "It's a cinema!"
Which applies to Paris in general. So much to see and explore. Now more than ever is the moment.