SNCF from Gare Montparnasse. On the edge of the Forêt de Rambouillet, between Versailles and Chartres, this pleasant small town has a comparatively modest royal residence which now serves as a summer retreat for French presidents. The Château de Rambouillet dates from the 14thC, and was popular with Francois I, who died here after being taken ill while out hunting. Marie-Antoinette was less enthusiastic about its rural setting, so Louis XVI built her a dainty milking parlour where she and her ladies could play; he also founded the National Sheepfold, which is still inhabited by descendants of the orignal Merino sheep. The gardens are particularly lovely, stretching down from the château for more than 1 km around canals and artificial lakes.