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CHATEAU
FONTAINEBLEAU
Emperor Napoleon and France’s Great Royal Palace
Perhaps lesser
known and farther from Paris than the Versailles Palace, the Chateau
of Château
de Fontainebleau had been a residential castle of French kings since
the 12th Century. Fontainebleau is the only
royal chateau in France to have been continuously inhabited for seven
centuries. The first recorded reference in a royal charter dates back
to 1137, the year Louis VII, known as Louis the Younger ascended to the
throne and the castle complex was expanded in the reign of Charles VII,
the medieval King of France of the 15th Century. The current massive
royal palace with over 1500 rooms and extensive gardens was constructed
in the 16th Century and extensively refurbished by the resident now most
associated with it, Napoleon Bonaparte I, first Life Consul and Emperor
of France. It was from Fontainebleau that Napoleon abdicated in 1814,
before his return from Elba in 1815 for his last power trip (see Route
Napoleon). The chateau building and formal garden grounds
provide an impressive glimpse into royal and imperial lifestyle in the
town of Fontainebleau,
surrounded by a thick forest, about an hour south of Paris where the
Seine River dips before flowing to the capital city.
The
Renaissance era rooms retain their unique fresco and stucco art by
Italian artists Rosso and Primaticcio. The apartments of the French
monarchs, antechambers, drawing rooms and throne room illustrate all
the pomp and splendor of a French royal court without the over-the-top
rococo frippery of Versailles. When Napoleon took up residence in 1804
he had several of the interior chambers refurbished for his own private
use, bedchamber, office and other apartments, including a separate one
for Josephine, for when he wanted to be alone with his grand designs
on world conquest. Four drawing rooms were later reconstructed in 1863
by Napoleon III for his wife, Empress Eugenie, for her collection of
oriental art in the Chinese Museum known as the Chinese Drawing Room.
The chateau
castle of Fontainebleau is surrounded by a hundred acres of parkland,
courtyards
and gardens of walks and fountains. The Oval
Courtyard is the oldest part of the castle with a remaining 12th Century
square keep, entered through the massive baroque Dauphine Gate. Other
courtyards and gardens were added by Louis XV, Francois I and Louis XIV,
with the latter’s Grand Parterre, designed by his Versailles landscape
architect, the largest formal garden in France with 45,000 plants blooming
in its flowerbeds every spring.
Napoleon Museum at the Petit Apartments
For Napoleon
Bonaparte fans, the Napoleon I Museum in the Fontainebleau Chateau
has several rooms displaying memorabilia of Napoleon and his
family during his reign as Emperor (1804-1814), the second empire. The
collection includes his coronation robe and sword, his cocked hat and
a campaign tent along with other items and portraits of his second wife
Marie-Louise, the Archduchess of Austria, and his son, Napoleon II, known
as the King of Rome from birth, though he never actually went there.
Fontainebleau Ville and Forest
The town
of Fontainebleau which grew around the palace was a popular tourism
spot for upper class
Parisians in centuries past and the rich
forest landscapes around, popular with French landscape painters sometimes
called the "savage" school. The nearby village of Barbizon
became known as the "village of painters" in the 1800's. The
town center of Fontainebleau can be crowded with tourists at peak times,
but provides a number of museums and other sites to visit along with
charming restaurants. There is even an ornate merry-go-round among the
sidewalk ice creameries and local cheese shops where the local soft creamy "Le
Fontainebleau" variety can be sampled. And if real horses are of
interest there are two well-known equestrian centers, the Hippodrome
de la Solle and the Grand Parquet.
For even more Napoleon, the Musee Napoleonien, also known as the Museum
of Military History of Fountainbleu, is entirely separate from the Fontainbleau
Palace, located a few blocks away in a smaller in town chateau on Rue
Saint-Honore (see Musee Napoleonien), with rooms of military uniforms,
dressed on figures in tableau, equipment and figurines, mostly from the
Napoleonic period (see Napoleon
Tomb Invalides and Waterloo Museums)
Other curious historical museums in town are the National Museum of Prisons
housed in the former Fontainebleau Prison and the French National Archives
where history or genealogy can be researched. These latter two require
contacting the Tourist Office for appointments or group tours.
Although Fontainebleau is in the Seine-et-Marne region it can be a good starting point for a tour further south to the Loire Chateaus and Loire Valley wine touring, or just for a quick weekend or day trip from Paris. Fontainebleau is just off the A6 south of Paris, plan for about an hour by car. The SNCF French Railway train from Paris Gare de Lyon Station takes about 45 minutes, with a bus to the chateau. The rail company offers a train-bus-chateau State Apartments entrance package as well. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Fontainbleau
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