Au Refuge des 3 Ours

It might be stretching the imagination to have attached the name 'Paris' to Beauvais airport (20 minutes' drive away): not only is the City of Light a good hour and a half off, but Beauvais is a place in its own right and well worth a trip to see the Gallo-Roman ramparts, regional museum and the 13th century Gothic cathedral, whose vault is the highest in all of Europe (and might explain why the rest of it was never completed). There's more history to be had in Chantilly (50 minutes), with its museums of lace-making and cavalry, 16th-century castle and the Manse Pavillon, a canny early pumping station built to keep the palace fountains and gardens of the local princes supplied with water. There's a princely array of amusements on offer in these parts, too: rollercoasters and fairground rides at Parc St. Paul half an hour away compete with a heady mix of live music, theatre and cute animals at Le Potager les Princes, desert- and gold rush-themed attractions at La Mer de Sable and the big rides and big crowds of big-name crowd-puller Parc Astérix (all 50 minutes away). Further off but still feasible for day trips at an hour and a half's driving time are Disneyland Paris and the city that some might call a theme park and fairytale rolled into one... Paris.