Vacation Photos - Fontainebleau
My favorite day of the trip was the day we went to Fontainebleau. The weather was perfect, the gardens were stunning, and the palace itself was full of fascinating history. (These are also the best photos I took, so if you look at any, look at these!)
Our group entering:
View of the palace from the main courtyard:
We got a Renaissance-focused tour by a lady who seemed harried because we were late, but once she realized how knowledgable and interested our group was, she warmed to us, and the tour itself was fascinating.
The most amazing Renaissance art inside:
The library (but not the same library where Lymond and Philippa have their "hunchback" conversation; that older library was in a different room):
Rooms from the Napoleonic section (Napoleon liked Fontainebleau because Versailles was too associated with the excesses of royalty):
Napoleon's bathroom:
I meant to go back into the palace after lunch and explore more rooms, but the gardens were so beautiful that I spent the rest of the visit wandering outside instead.
This is in the back now, but my understanding is that it used to be the main entrance. Part of what makes this palace so fascinating is that the various monarchs knocked down and rebuilt so much of it over the years, so it's an amalgamation of many different eras and styles.
Doesn't it look like a fairy tale castle?
The English garden (as compared to the formal French garden in the earlier photos):
An older courtyard, with a Renaissance stairway leading to the king's and queen's (?) rooms:
Eric, who gave us a demonstration of jeu de paume (the ancestor of tennis--you serve by hitting the ball onto the opposite roof!) and who at least half our group seemed to have fallen in love with by the end of his presentation. He was very sweet.
The grotto where Philippa and Sybilla have an important conversation in Checkmate (it's pretty much in ruins now):
The front stairway, later in the day. You can see how beautiful the weather was.
A random wandering peacock! These ladies didn't speak English but we were all marveling over the bird.
Diana fountain. Um.
Canal, at the back of the property. This thing is huge:
Spinxes flanking the canal:
It was so beautiful here. I didn't want to leave!
I spent the last few minutes of the trip watching a little French girl feeding bread to the swans, ducks, and carp. One duck would get a piece and zoom away with the other ducks chasing after; meanwhile a swan and a fish would be darting from above and below for the same hunk of bread.
I would go back to Fontainebleu in a heartbeat. The history is fascinating and the gardens are so beautiful. It's also so much more peaceful than Versailles; Versailles is a crowded, organized tourist "experience," whereas Fontainebleu attracts more locals, is far less crowded, covers more historical eras, and is much more relaxing.
Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please comment there or at Dreamwidth.