Travel guide Seine-Et-Marne

Between Seine-Port and Saint-Mammès, the Affolantes, dozens of houses dating from the 1900s, continue to fascinate. With their extravagant volumes, daring heights, medieval turrets, faux half-timbering and ornate balconies, these incredible Seine-side holiday homes deserve their name!

One of the culinary delights of Seine-et-Marne is Brie cheese. Whether they come from Meaux, Melun, Coulommiers, Provins, Montereau or Nangis, it's impossible to resist these soft cheeses made with good raw cow's milk! Endorsed by kings since Charlemagne, they have become emblems of the département, and have been awarded an AOP (protected designation of origin).

The département boasts an exceptional heritage, with more than 200 châteaux, including prestigious ones such as Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte. Others, such as Blandy-les-Tours, Brie-Comte-Robert and Nemours, are priceless examples of medieval architecture.

Seine-et-Marne is a popular destination for climbing enthusiasts. The best indoor climbing spot is the Fontainebleau forest, a benchmark for international climbers. But did you know that, in the beginning, climbing was simply training for mountaineering before becoming an Olympic discipline?

If there's one music that evokes Seine-et-Marne, it's jazz. From Nadia Boulanger to Didier Lockwood, the département has always nurtured talent, and the tradition lives on. Alongside the Route du Jazz, numerous events bring the region to life, including the Django Reinhardt Festival and the Festival des 2 Rivières. A musical, refined and festive journey!

Anyone visiting Seine-et-Marne can't miss the chance to step back in time at Provins, where minstrels, troubadours, jugglers... are on hand for the Médiévales festival. On the program: stands, activities and demonstrations for all ages and tastes! Other events are also organized in the region, notably in Blandy and Tournan-en-Brie.0

With some 125,000 ha of forest, Seine-et-Marne is a "nature" destination par excellence. But that's not counting its protected natural areas, which are ideal for hiking (marshes, islets...) and, what's more, its cultivated areas, which have made it an agricultural and even wine-growing region, with many culinary traditions to match!

Thanks to its vast network of waterways (rivers, canals, etc.), lakes and other bodies of water, Seine-et-Marne offers a wide choice of water-based activities: boat trips with or without a license, canoeing, paddling, swimming, water-skiing, cruises... A wide range of activities to enjoy the fine weather and stay in shape!

For centuries, Seine-et-Marne has been a source of inspiration for artists from all horizons. While François ^I attracted many talents in his wake, it was in the 19th^century that painters such as Courbet, Corot, Millet, Rousseau and Diaz de la Peña flocked to the region, turning landscapes into subjects in their own right.

Fans of archaeology and, above all, prehistory will be delighted in Seine-et-Marne. From the Musée de la Préhistoire in Nemours to numerous sites such as Fontainebleau and Pincevent, the département is home to remains that retrace the major stages of an entire human odyssey, from the Palaeolithic (around 600,000 years ago) to the Protohistory of Gaul.

An emblem of the medieval city, the Rosa gallica has charmed many, starting with Thibaut IV of Champagne, who is said to have brought it back from the Orient in the ^13th century. Today, this subtle flower, the oldest rose in France, can be found in gardens and at confectioners' stalls in the form of gourmet sins: jams, cookies..

Moret is the birthplace of the famous barley sugar. Created under the reign of Louis XIII, this delicacy was nothing more than a remedy concocted by the Benedictine Sisters of Notre-Dame-des-Anges. It didn't take long for the miracle to take hold, since in addition to soothing sore throats, the confection quickly became a favorite sin mignon!