A BIG Surprise just south of Paree! 5-7-15

Over the years we have been sort of schizophrenic about France.  When we're in Paris we focus on things Parisian, and when we're out of Paris then we focus on the provincial parts of life.  

Today we broke the mold a bit and took a trip out to Fontainebleau, and one word, WOW, describes it.  We started out with a 2 bus line ride down to Gare de Lyon, and then a Transileian (sp?) train out to Avon which is the town that abuts Fontainebleau.  We purchased our monthly passes beginning this month with coverage for all 5 zones around Paris because we will be ferrying out to Chas. De Gaulle airport for visitors a bunch in the next couple months and Fontainebleau is just at the outer edge of the 5th zone so the trip was no extra charge.


This is in the Chateau, so what sort of "serious game" are we talking about here?


We were aware of Fontainebleau but just reading about it doesn't really prepare one for the actuality, it seems to be on a scale of Versailles but without the inevitable tourist traffic that Versailles generates.   Building commenced around the time of Francois 1st in the early 1500's and continued up into the mid 1800's with the last king/emperors of France.   So there is a mélange of styles in architecture and furnishings covering the entire period.  Today we visited the "Grand Apartments" where one can visit without being on a guided tour.   In the course of 4 hours we visited perhaps 25-35 rooms out of the 1900 that are in the whole complex.   The first set of rooms showed the Papal apartments where Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII for his coronation, the first time and then brought him back as a "visitor" for a few years after they had a falling out (after which Napoleon sacked Rome and the Vatican).  We then saw a beautiful gallery that was constructed by Francois with the requisite allegorical telling of Francois' great virtues (so sunny). 

The next set of rooms were focused on Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and spouses.   It was fun to see Napoleon's throne room, bedroom, and staff planning rooms.  We also saw the Empress Josephine's bedroom, very sumptuous.


We then walked in the English garden adjoining the chateau, probably 60 acres, which is a tiny portion of the overall grounds, it's immense!  We will be taking guests out here as opposed to Versailles because the rooms are more interesting and the tourists are less visible (so far). 

We also reconnected with one of the gentlemen we met in our first week when we went to the Foire au Chatou, the brocantes fair in Rueil-Malmaison.  He has a business that provides carriage rides throughout the grounds, so it will be fun to see them from a carriage next time and save our footsore selves a bit of walking.