Orléans - the neighbor of Paris

Like many other French cities, Orléans was first a Gallic stronghold, which was later conquered by Romans, destroyed, and then rebuilt. The origin of the name Orléans, comes from Roman name for the city – Aurelianum.

During Middle Ages Orléans was one of the richest cities in France. It was all because of its strategic point. Orléans is located on the northernmost point of the river Loire. Back than there were only few bridges over the river and Orléans had one of them.

After being under the sieged by English, during Hundred Years’ War, in 1429 Orléans gained its freedom thanks to Joan of Arc, who led the troops in the city and ended the siege.
Even today Orléans celebrates Joan of Arc.
After that city recovered and returned its previous status. Placing taxes and toll for crossing the bridge brought Orléans more resources, for more development.

In Renaissance, city flourished, as the rich French develop fashion of traveling along Loire Valley for pleasure. In that period, University of Orleans was opened, and was highly appreciated because it was specialized in law, at that time high ranked profession in Europe.

First electric railway was established in 19th, and it connected Paris with Orleans. Then its geographical point became even more important. During Second World War Germans made Orléans station one of their main hubs, and nearby camp for prisoners was built. During liberation, much of the city was ruined due to heavy bombing. But Orléans was the first city to recover after the war.

Today of what was once a big city, Orléans remain average size city, with little above 250,000 inhabitants, It still uses its good central point and its one hour connection with Paris to attract tourists from around the world.
Besides that, Orléans is a “must see” stop on the cruise down the river Loire.

Orleans: Statue de Jeanne d'Arc, Orléans

Orléans Cathedral is a beautiful building, which looks a lot like the one in Paris. It is in the center of Orléans and there is no chance that you will miss it. Inside this gothic cathedral there are stained glass windows, which depict the story of Joan of Arc.

House of Joan of Arc offers visitors the chance to discover everything about life of Orléans greatest hero. There is multimedia room, several interactive terminals, illustrated timelines, period maps from the time of Joan of Arc. Not to be mistaken with, this is the place where Joan lived during and after the siege, but this isn’t the place where she was born.
She was born in small village called Domrémy.

Musée des Beaux Arts (Museum of fine arts) is the oldest provincial museum in France. It contains large collection of European art from 15th to 20th century. In that collection there are over 2000 paintings of famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Eugène Delacroix, Diego Velázquez, Paul Gauguin and others.

Hotel de Ville is a luxurious hotel in Orleans. Its décor, with royal curtains and gold drippings, takes breath away. Since City Hall is placed in here, everybody who are getting married in Orléans are obligated to get married here.

Europe bridge is one of five bridges over Loire, but this one is special, because it was the first one in Orléans, and one of the rare ones in whole France during Middle Ages. This bride is reason for very prosper history of the city.

Museum of history and archeology of Orléans shouldn’t be missed, because it offers great view of how the city itself was created, how it developed and became what it is today.

Martroi plaza is main square in Orléans. Very wide with Joan of Arc statue that dominates the square, this is the place where local usually meet and where some events and festivals take place.

Most of popular bars and restaurants in Orléans are located in the street Rue de Bourgogne. There is range of restaurants, from typical French to Vietnamese or Indian cuisine. Prices are also different. There are fancy and pricy restaurants, but there are also cheap ones, popular with students. Some of the bars are located in old buildings with very nice inner medieval look. If it’s a nice and sunny day, be sure to take a sit in one of the restaurants near the river.

Le bord de la Loire is very popular site for high school students, who meet here during weekends. If you don’t like crowd, try to avoid it.

There is beautiful park in Orléans called Parc Floral. It is 10km south of the city. Park stretches over 35 ha and at the center of the park is source of river Loiret. It’s full of different types of flowers and it doesn’t mater whether you come in spring or autumn or even winter, there will always be flowers.

Next to it, is a University of Orléans, so it’s usual to see students taking break and enjoying the park, just lying on the grass. You can have a nice walk, play some sports or have a picnic here.

If you really want to get out of the city, then around 40km south of Orléans is a place for you called the Parc des Alicourts. It is a campsite and spa.

Here you can do some fishing in the lake or if you’re into water sports there are several pools. If you just want to relax, there is a health spa with hydrotherapy center. You can stay in one of the cottages or villas for rent, or if you are more nature type, than there is option of renting tent (or bring your tent) in the camp.

First week of May is dedicated to Joan of Arc. City is then filled with parades, medieval markets, concerts and shows.

Festival de la Loire in September is biggest festival in Orléans. It’s another festival with medieval theme, which occupies streets with sound, colors, music and artists.

In the summer on the river Loire boat show takes place, where people can have a look on different types of boats, from very old ones, with powerful history to the new and modern ones. Size also varies, from very large ships to the modern kayaks.

In August Open Air Cinema Festival takes place in Orléans. People have picnic outside, while watching favorite Hollywood hits, new releases, or independent films.

Every festival in France, and so the same in Orléans is followed by great food and wine and gives joy to everyone.

There are no direct flights to Orléans, but since Paris is just an hour away, you can come in by plane to either of two airports in Paris – Charles de Gaule or Orly.

If you’re coming by car, Orléans is connected with Paris by A10 motorway. It usually is just an hour long drive, but have in mind that during the rush hour it can take even 3 hours to get from Paris to Orleans Orléans. If you want to avoid the crowd, take national road N20, which is slightly longer, but is toll free, and it’s has great landscape with typical French villages.

Since Orléans and Paris were one of the first cities to be connected by railway, it’s logical that between these two cities trains run on regular base. You can catch regular train from Paris, which takes about hour and 25 minutes to reach Orléans, or you can take express one, which arrives in the city in about 50 minutes.

There is always a chance to come in Orléans by boat, since it’s located on the river Loire. Frequent cruises make stops in the city, and you can catch them in Nantes.

Then book a hotel in Orléans, France and check it out.