After our article about the great Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget, we continue our exploration of Paris’ nearby suburbs with a walk to discover the beautiful town of Enghien-les-Bains, which is extraordinary for many reason – there’s a vast lake, a massive thermal spa and the only casino within a 100km radius of Paris!

Oh, and it’s just a 13-minute train ride from Gare du Nord !

We’re a little ashamed to admit it, but this is first time we’ve ever been to Enghien-les-Bains. Many Parisians think leaving the city is an unnecessary hassle – why do it when you have the whole of Paris at your feet? Especially if you’re right in the centre, at one of our our hotels.

This attitude is a bit of a shame though.

With a minimum of effort you can get a train to Enghien from Gare du Nord (they run every fifteen minutes, its the fourth stop, and the whole journey takes 13 minutes) and suddenly find yourself in a town with a completely different feel to it.

Once you arrive at Enghien, it’s a short 7-minute walk to get to the centre of town. You can either turn left out of the station and go down a quiet street with quite a few shops, or take the street immediately opposite where you’ll pass by some very smart houses and the town’s (rather less smart) Arts Centre which has exhibitions, theatre shows and modern dance, concerts and films (the full programme can be found in French here).

Continue along your way and you’ll quickly arrive at Square de Villemessant, a small park with beautiful flower beds and numerous fountains. It really is completely different from anything in Paris…

Opposite the park you can’t miss the casino, not only the sole casino with 100km of Paris, but also the biggest in France, with 500 slot machines and 43 games tables. The casino complex also has two restaurants, two bars and its own theatre offering comedy, concerts and shows from some pretty well-known French names (coming soon – Edouard Baer, Florence Foresti, Cœur de Pirate, Stéphane Guillon, Christophe Willem, Roch Voisine, and Grease!)

The casino is also behind the Enghien-les-Bains Jazz Festival each July, with lots of free concerts (in 2022 you could have seen George Benson, Imagination and a DJ set from Cerrone for zero euros).

The original art nouveau building has been ‘augmented’ with a sort of metal and glass facade that has not aged particularly well. It’s difficult to miss when you’re in the centre of town – perhaps that was the idea.

You should also know that if you intend entering the casino you’ll need to be smartly dressed (no sports clothes, shorts, ripped jeans. In fact there’s a long list of things you can’t wear to be found here.

This is also where you’ll first encounter the famous lake, which cover 43 hectares and has a perimeter of 3km. It’s been a while since we saw a stretch of water this big!

There’s also a rose garden here, with a little stream and fountains that the local ducks and swans enjoy.

The town’s tourist office is near here, with lots of info about the town and three discovery walks about the history of the town, a sweet neighbourhood called Ormesson and a walk around the lake, which is the one we chose for our first visit.

And so we set off for 90 minutes of lovely views, hidden waterside gardens and gorgeous turn-of-the-century houses…

Our walk takes us past a small garden where geese are resting and families of birds paddle past peacefully. It’s almost like being in the countryside!

Part of the walk takes us away from the edge of the lake and towards some great (and large) houses in a variety of styles, an Art Deco school building, and three ‘castles’ (one of which is currently being renovated)! From time to time we still get glimpses of the lake with people sailing, or go through beds of flowers planted by the local council.

Next, we arrive at the Villa du Lac. Take the driveway down one side to the back of the villa, and you’ll find a large garden that extends down to the water. It’s a great spot for quiet sunbathing with your feet in the water, or reading a book without distractions.

Our tour is soon to be over, but there are still some great buildings to see along the way. For example, the villa ‘Mon Rêve’ which dates from 1903 is an art deco marvel, and some of the gardens along the way look very lush.

And so our walk in Enghien-les-Bains finishes. The tourist office still has two others on offer that we would very much like to try – one explaining the history of the town as it grew threw the 20th century, and another exploring a neighbourhood to the east called Ormesson.

Plus, we haven’t visited the thermal spa!

Or seen the photo exhibition Il était une fois demain by Chris Morin-Eitner on the facade of the town hall!

And then there’s the festival Festiv’ été each weekend and public holiday until 28th August 2022, with concerts, workshops and other events… (full programme (PDF) here).

We’re very much looking forward to returning to Enghien-les-Bains to explore the town further.

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