Vincennes
- Food
- A bakery picnic into the bois
- Sports
- Public pitches and the lake
Crowd level: Easy. Busy only at the obvious hour
Best season April–June and September–October. Sunday afternoons are the local crowd, which is different from a tourist crush.
The château’s keep is a medieval palace, and the bois is where the city goes on Sunday. You can walk for an hour and never see a selfie stick aimed at iron lattice. Rent a boat or don’t. The trees are the product.
The short version
Philip VI and Charles V built the keep in the 14th century, when kings still lived here more willingly than at the Louvre. Mata Hari was executed at the fortress in 1917. The bois was a royal hunting park before it was a public one. Both facts are visible if you bother to look up.
Food nearby
A bakery picnic into the bois
Buy bread and fruit in Vincennes and eat on the grass. The château café is convenience, not a meal. Skip any place advertising a view of the tower.
A game nearby
Public pitches and the lake
The bois is runners, rowers on the lake, and weekend football on open pitches. That is the ticket. You do not need a club shop.