The small town of Chantilly, 40km north of Paris, is closely associated with horses and racing. Some 3000 thoroughbreds prance the forest rides of a morning, and two of the season’s classiest flat races are held here. Horses can also be seen at a museum in the stables of Chantilly’s other main attraction, its elegant nineteenth-century château.

Trains take about thirty minutes from Paris’s Gare du Nord to Chantilly. Occasional free buses run from the station to the château, though it’s an easy walk. Footpaths GR11 and 12 pass through the château park and its surrounding forest, offering a peaceful and leisurely way of exploring this bit of country.