I cannot get enough of castles and palaces. It's become a problem and (un)fortunately there's no such thing as Castles Anonymous.
I wanted to get away from Paris for a day, and although there are many places one can visit that surround the City of Lights (Giverny, Chantilly, Provins, Orleans, Chartres, etc,.), I chose Fontainebleau.
Why? Because of the famous chateau, but of course!
We arrived in Fontainebleau around 10am. The train ride was frustrating at first and not spectacular in any way (I'll talk about getting there at the end of this post).
The weather in the city of Fontainebleau also looked iffy for the day; kind of strange considering Paris is only 65K away and the sun was shining there. It's Europe, though, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised!
But when we arrived at the chateau, I knew I'd be okay. Approaching the grand staircase made every frustration and weather concern disappear.
And at the end of our visit, I knew I had found my favorite palace in Europe thus far!
The beauty of this chateau runs deeper than others. Not only are there gorgeous rooms filled with an abundance of wealth and gold trimmings, there are also little to no tourists. It was glorious!
Historical facts about Chateau de Fontainebleau:
*If you are a fan of the horribly inaccurate show Reign, you'll know the name (or if you're a history nerd, you need no such show to know. I'll admit, I watch Reign, simply because I love picking it apart, but it's really a show not to be taken seriously, anyway).
King Francis II was born here. Ya know, the child king married to Mary Queen of Scots. Yep, Catherine Medici gave birth in this palace, not just once, but to six of her children! That family and particular line of succession is stamped all over France, especially in Paris. King Francis II died at age 16, and is buried in Saint-Denis Basilica, which I also visited on this trip. (See my post: Creepin' in Paris).
*The chateau has roughly 1,500 rooms.
*NATO headquarters resided at the chateau from 1945-1965.
*The da Vinci painting Mona Lisa (La Joconde) was here before she found permanent residence in The Louvre. It's historically noted the painting was within the grounds during the 16th century, and moved in 1797 to Musee de Louvre.
*A medieval castle was here before the mannerism style chateau that you see now. Most of that castle was demolished, and new foundations and extensions laid in 1422.
*Historians debate the details, but it is assumed that Napoleon's infamous suicide attempt took place within the chateau. Proven fact: Only a week later, after the poison didn't do it's job, he made his farewell speech on the main exterior staircase before his exile.
*The grounds play the role of the largest formal garden in Europe. And no, I didn't walk every inch of it. Ha!
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| Gallery of Diana: A library corridor. I loved it! |
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| Chapel of the Trinity within Fontainebleau |
I could've uploaded a ton more photos of the interior, but you get the point! I was almost sad when our tour came to an end. After visiting the inside of the chateau, we headed back outside, this time taking advantage of the garden and the crisp fall air to pair it with.
As we were leaving the grounds we noticed a large wedding party.
It's a common occurrence around Europe; wedding parties taking professional portraits at touristy places.
I think the worst was in Salzburg, Austria. We counted NINE wedding parties attempting shots at Mirabell Palace.
I mention wedding junk for a reason. If you arrive at an attraction early, take advantage of the lack of people while you can. These wedding folks seem to think they own the place and will yell and shoo people away if they interfere with photos. It's best to avoid them rather than to pick a fight. All of our staircase photos below were taken earlier when we first arrived when there weren't as many people around. Thankfully!
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| It's giant! |
Before leaving the town, we wandered a little. Found the town hall building, which almost looks like a mini palace of sorts. Of course my kids loved the stationary carousel that sits right off of the main street in front of the chateau. Fontainebleau is a beautiful little town with a lot of character. I had almost wished we chose to stay the night there so we could have enjoyed it longer.
I mentioned I would get to the train bits and here it is for future visitors (skip past the next two pictures if you don't plan to visit or don't need train info):
With research, I knew that the train line in Paris that would take me to Fontainebleau was located at Gare de Lyon.
People on blogs and online travel resources made it seem uncomplicated, but I'm almost certain that those people didn't travel on a Sunday like we did!
Sunday adventures out of the city by train have dramatically different results.
After arriving at Gare de Lyon, my knowledge told me to get on any train that went to Laroche-Migennes / Montereau / Montargis / Sens.
Not the case on Sundays.
We noted a train headed towards Montargis but the problem was this: Nowhere on the route did it note a stop at Fontainbleau-Avon, or anywhere near it. It was supposed to.
I asked a employee on the platform which train we needed and he pointed to the train that didn't say it'd be stopping at Fontainbleau.
When I asked him why it didn't note the stop, he replied with, "That's the way it is."
No further explanation.
We hopped on the train anyway.
Long haul trains usually have a half hour (or so) boarding time. They're not like metros that come and go within the blink of an eye. This is true for most trains at main train stations in Europe, except in small cities, and this was in my favor on this day.
Once we boarded, I saw the route map inside of the car, and it did not note a stop where we were heading! I freaked out, and made everyone in my family get off. The train employee walked over and asked what the problem was. I told him. He reiterated "That's your train," and I wanted to scream "Explain why that's my train when the damn map and platform screen says otherwise!" Instead, I asked politely, again, and no logical answer was given, again.
I didn't trust the train.
A nice man jumped off the train and came up to us as I was searching my phone for an answer. We explained the situation, and he finally gave us insight!
He said the system doesn't update for Sunday travel, and that most train routes headed south are combined into one route rather than several because of the lack of Sunday travelers. It saves the city money when one train is full rather than six trains having less than 25 people, but the trade-off is that it takes longer to reach your destination, depending on. When I asked why the map inside of the car didn't match the destination, his reply was simple: "Because they're too lazy to switch it out for the one day of the week where it's different."
FINALLY.
Someone had a logical answer.
We boarded the train, again, and this time I trusted it.
Now, you can ask me why I didn't just listen to the employee. He works there, he should know what he's talking about, right? Well, it's not uncommon for frustrated employees to detour a tourist simply because they can. Yes, this really happens. I haven't experienced it, but I know several people who have and it scares the crap out of me. It's one thing if you're detoured within city limits, but another to end up across country and lost in a city that's unfamiliar.
What about online Sunday schedules?
I've got an answer for that. The Sunday schedule for the destination HAD our stop on it. When comparing the online schedule and the platform schedule, the platform was missing quite a few stops that the online schedule showed. That didn't help the confusion. UGH. Now you know.
Getting There from the station:
Once you arrive at the Fontainebleau-Avon station, walk immediately to the bus stop across the street. Bus #1 (as of October 2015) takes you right up to the chateau.
For returning, the bus stop will be on the same side as the chateau, located next to the grounds wall. Sunday's bus schedule gets a little odd in mid-afternoon. There's a wide gap of time between 1400 and 1600 where the bus doesn't come at all, otherwise it comes about every half hour. It is in a visitors best interest to stroll over to the departing bus stop and make a note of when buses leave before visiting the chateau.
Bus #1 takes you back to the train station, but take notice that the train station is a weird one, and it won't look familiar, at first. The station has two sides, and each is for a different direction.
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| He makes train rides look pretty. |
We had a beautiful day, and aside from some initial train confusion, all went well. Fontainebleau should definitely be on anyone's list if they have a quite some time to spend in France or if they are returning to Paris for a second or third time. This chateau is overshadowed by Versailles, but shouldn't be.
Or maybe that's what makes it more special?
Next big stop for us?
We'll be exploring an area of Germany we haven't been to yet. And...I am SUPER excited about this trip. It hosts my number one MUST SEE in Germany bucket list attraction!
Hint: Famous dead person sealed in gold.
Eeek. Can't wait!
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