SNCF bus from Chantilly, www.senlis-tourisme.fr. A pretty town and favourite with summer coach tours (so it is best to visit off season), Senlis has a fine Gothic cathedral, Gallo-Roman ruins and the remnants of a royal château. At the heart of the old town with its Renaissance buildings and 17th-18thC mansions (walking tours from the tourist office), the Cathédrale de Nôtre-Dame overlooks a cobbled square. Founded in 1153 (before Nôtre-Dame in Paris), construction continued into the Flamboyant period and it is topped by an immense 78-m spire. Caught in the embrace of the old fortifications nearby, the remaining portion of the old Château-Royal now houses the Musée de la Venerie, which is dedicated to the cult of hunting and filled with paintings, sculpture, trophies and weaponry used in the pursuit of deer and wild boar in the royal forests.

   Stretching south-east of Senlis, the beech woods of the Forêt d’Ermenonville make a fine picnic spot. Château d’Ermenonville lies at the south-eastern edge of the forest (9 km south-east via the N330) set in lovely informal gardens (a jardin anglais) which are open to the public. The 18thC philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau died here in 1778, and was buried on an island in the lake, though his remains were later placed in the Pantheon in Paris. A short distance north, the 12thC Abbaye de Chaalis built by the Cistercian order was partially restored in the 18thC, and now displays pre-Revolutionary artworks owned by the Institut de France.