Napoleon Slept Here

Today, we visited the Chateau de Fontainebleau, one of the largest chateaux in France. We thought it would be a nice excursion outside Paris, which we could easily reach by train. And we’ve both visited Versailles multiple times. Greg thought he visited Fontainebleau previously with a former coworker, but when we arrived, he realized it must have been somewhere else (maybe Vincennes?).

Fontainebleau served both the French royalty and Napoleon. One wing is now a museum of Napoleon, while another is preserved from the days of the French monarchy and the emperor. Fontainebleau seems nearly as large as Versailles, nearly as opulent, and far less crowded. Fontainebleau is also hundreds of years older than Versailles. We were able to visit multiple bedrooms, meeting rooms, antechambers and the ballroom. When we entered the ballroom, a young boy cried “Wow! Wow!”. We agree; it was impressive!

In one wing, Napoleon had two bedrooms: a second bedroom outside his regular bedroom! We didn’t learn why he needed two bedrooms adjacent to each other.

It seemed the Emperor enjoyed the trappings of power as much as the French monarchy that he replaced.

After visiting the chateau, we walked through the large gardens. Again, not as large or as opulent as Versailles, but still very lovely, particularly on a day with cool and dry weather. Once we walked the length of the gardens, we continued walking to the train station, rather than taking the bus.

Tonight, a Moroccan dinner back in Paris. Tomorrow, one final day in Paris.