September 18 – Fontainebleau

We ventured out of Paris today.  We took a train to the town of Fontainebleau to see its famous Chateau Fontainebleau, which was the home to several French kings and emperor’s.  The most famous of these rulers was Napoleon Bonaparte. The town is fifty five kilometres south of Paris.

It was an hour train ride to Fontainebleau and the train was not crowded.  This made for a very pleasant trip.  We’ve become very adept at getting around Paris on their Metro subway system.  It is a very simple system that can get you to many locations within the Paris and its suburbs.

Chateâu Fontainebleau is not as opulent as Versailles but it is still impressive in its architecture and furnishings.  When you enter the gates you are greeted by a huge horseshoe shaped staircase. The spectacular 1900-room château has every square centimetre of wall and ceiling space richly adorned with wood panelling, gilded carvings, frescos, tapestries and paintings.

Entrance to Fontainebleau

Horseshoe shaped staircase at Fontainebleau

The chateau is separated into three sections.  There is a Napoleon museum in the petite apartments, the grand apartments and the English gardens.

Napoleon's Uniform

The Petits Appartements were the private apartments of the emperor Napolean and empress Josephine. The museum located here contains his uniforms, hats, coats, ornamental swords and knick-knacks that belonged to Napoleon and his relatives.

When you enter Napoleon's museum, one of the first things that strikes you is how small Napoleon really was.  There is no way in today’s world that someone of his stature would command respect.  That is a sad truth but that too is reality.

The Grand Apartments were designed and modified by each successive monarch or emperor. Originally built in the twelfth century, it was completely replaced during the Renaissance three centuries later. The main architectural theme in place today is from the reign of Napoleon III in the mid 1800’s.  Most of the walls are either dark wood or painted stucco.

Ball Room

Napoleon's Bedroom Chamber

Napoleon's Throne Room

The floors are made of marble and a couple of hours of walking on these floors will wreak havoc on your back.

Unfortunately the Pope's apartment was closed for renovations/  Between 1812 and 1814 Pope Pius VII was detained at the chateau and this became his jail.

Also the room where Napoleon was forced to abdicate the throne has been left as it was on that faithful day. 

During WWII the château was turned into a German headquarters. After it was liberated by Allied forces under US General George Patton in 1944, part of the complex served as the Allied and then NATO headquarters from 1945 to 1965.

In the late afternoon a very heavy rain storm hit Fontainebleau, so we didn’t get to visit the gardens.  At the train station on the way back to Paris, Marg got soaked when the roof of the shelter at the train station sprung a major leak right over her head.

One of the joys of travelling is going to small and out of the way cafes.  For lunch we went to one in the village and had some wonderful crepes and a local wine.

For dinner we went around the corner from our hotel to a restaurant called Abydoise.  Their speciality was fish and they were good at preparing it.  We had Crab Tartar for starters and Marg had Sea Bass and I had Turbot.  We had a Chablis wine to go along with these entrees.  They gave me a complementary dessert, when I ordered my coffee.  This might be the best restaurant we’ve visited in Paris this trip.

This is our last night in Paris before we travelled to Rouen.  We've been staying at the Champerret Heliopolis Hotel.  Marg did a wonderful job in selecting this hotel.  If you want a quiet, clean hotel room with a very friendly staff, in a location close to public transportation and also close to many fine restaurants then I could recommend this hotel.  If you want a North American sized room then this would not be the hotel you want as its rooms are very small.