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Genuine shield against the inclemency of seasons, natural filter against pollution the green belt surrounding Paris is also a well known and popular walk, loiter and hiking place. For you and 11,000,000 "Fanciliens", like the inhabitants of Ile de France are named.
I will successively describe 5 forests, of which I have already described Fontainebleau forest extensively through my walks with my wife (to find on my web site under "Daytrips from Paris").
Let's start with the forest of "RAMBOUILLET". Youth gathers often there, under the centennial oaks, to dance on "techno " rhythm, or to discover the secrets of its 20 different biologic reservations. These are sanctuaries revealing an immense ecological wealth with 54 protected vegetal species, 2000 deers wild boars, roe deers, and 155 different bird species. It's like a green crescent of 50 km long between the heavily urbanized Parisian area, north, and the Beauce plains in the south. Driving through it, coming from Paris, is like a purifying bath.
In fact, this domain is a mixture of forest ensembles, agricultural soil and vast clearings where flourished villages are hiding: Gambaiseuil, Saint-Leger-en -Yvelines, Poigny, Les Breviaires. It's a festival and mosaic of landscapes: deep valleys, like Vaux-de-Cernay, crest jagged plateaux, peat bog prairies, scarped mountains, like the rochers d'Angennes.
To hike in these forests you need to earn it. Buy a good map, and there you go on adventure!
Explore, for example, the Vallée Moussue, up to the dolmen des Carnutes. Or walk along the numerous brooks, crossing the range. Because, you will notice that quite soon, water is all around you. Already in Middle Ages, monasteries tamed the brooks, built mills, dug ponds, turned sources into fountains. They left us their romantic ruins, abbaye Cistercienne des Vaux-de-Cernay, prieuré de Notre Dame des Moulineaux. Much later, our beloved Louis XIV created the "Etangs de Hollande" (Holland ponds) to supply the fountains and water spouts of Versailles. On the shores of these ponds, Napoleon built a hunting rendezvous, now in full restoration. Imagine that hunting is still permitted in these areas, during hunting season of course. Official excuse is to halt the over population of deers and roe deers.
But for you, 60 km of marked pedestrian paths, 50 km of bicycle trails and a lot of horse promenades used by about 30 equestrian centers.
Lest year storms did a lot of damage, but all trails are reopened now. But hundreds of forest allées and the entire underwood are still forbidden for the public. No way you can try to pick some forest mushrooms, at least until fall 2001, when the most frequented zones will be cleaned. It was not an ecological catastrophe, but partial landscape destruction. As long as the deers will bell, this forest will stay authentic.
You'd like some addresses, don't you? Click on the lodging and restaurants link at top of this page.
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