The Chateau d'Anet is 50 miles outside Paris. We would need a good 5 hours to get there, see the chateau and make a couple of photo-op stops. BUT I still find it an interesting place to visit for the main reason that it was the last home of

Anet can be visited only in the afternoon (because it's still privately owned and lived in, isn't that cool?!) and the owners (quite understandably) want us to respect their privacy. And we can see inside only during their guided (in French) visits. I can't show you pictures because they're forbidden inside but, let me tell you: it's worth seeing + I'll be there to translate for you! We'll be on our own in the park and in the chapel where she's buried.

Anet can easily be combined with Maintenon or Chartres in the morning.

who was the most famous mistress in French History. I can tell you all about her as well during a visit to the Marais and at Chenonceau in the Loire Valley. It so happened that after the king's brutal death, she was banished from court by his widow and spent the last 7 years of her life at Anet.

Diane de Poitiers