Last Call for Fontainebleau 9-18-15

Today we made what is likely our last trip out to Fontainebleau this year.  Pat and Barb wanted to see a chateau and Pat also wanted Barb to have a train ride into the countryside so this fit the bill perfectly.   We got out at 9:30 and caught the Metro down to a stop that is a 5 minute walk from Gare de Lyon where we boarded a train that would take us to Fontainebleau in only 3 stops.  We had about 5 minutes to spare before the train left and within 40 minutes we were at our destination, it was about a 10 minute bus ride to the stop directly next to the chateau.
When we got off the bus we went into a boulangerie and bought sandwiches and drinks for a picnic in the "queens garden" which is directly behind the north wing of the chateau.   We were a bit surprised that there were so many high-school aged students around but later found out that today was the day that about 10 busloads of them were taking guided tours.   They're a bit loud and pretty dramatic but overall they're just good kids, and we enjoyed their antics.
After lunch we walked out of the garden and into the front courtyard to look at the facades. This weekend the chateau is presenting two performances of La Traviata in a side courtyard, which would have been great fun, but it sold out in 4 hours and we weren't even aware of it until today. Before going into the chateau, since the weather was sunny and breezy we walked behind the chateau into the gardens and spent almost an hour sitting and walking around.  As we were going towards the chateau entry it started sprinkling so our timing was just right.
The self-guided tour took us through the Napoleon Museum which is a group of room dedicated to his memorabilia.  It has clothing, arms, tableware, furniture, etc. that formed part of his possessions during his reign.  After that series of rooms we went to the next grouping of rooms, which has been the apartment of the Pope, Pius VII, where he was kept prisoner for several years by Napoleon.  But it wasn't open!  There was evidence of refurbishment going on the last time we visited and I guess that they closed the rooms after the summer rush to continue with that.  So the tour took us into what was the front reception hall of the chateau.
From there we were able to go directly into the Gallery of Francois Premier a long room with south facing windows done during his reign, and supposedly his favorite room, both Deb and I like it best of all too.
From there it followed the normal  tour that we were used to, going through all the period rooms of the various monarchs from Francois through Napoleon III.  It is the longest continuously inhabited royal chateau in all of France, barring that silly little period called the revolution.
We hop-scotched with the student tours for a few rooms at which point we just rooted ourselves in one room and let them pass by and out of sight, after which we completed our visit in peace.  We were caught in a rain squall as we left the chateau but by the time we caught the bus for the train station it had passed and the rest of the trip back was in partly cloudy weather.