Fountainebleau, 2: Chateau And Grounds

Fountainebleau goes back pretty deep into the middle ages (Thomas Becket consecrated the initial Trinitaire chapel; he was passing through on his way to see the Pope), initially as a royal hunting lodge, then a royal chateau on which seemingly every French monarch has left his mark. Eight hundred years of additions, demolitions, renovations, redecorations...seemingly every room with a bit of history. All the furniture was taken and auctioned off during the Revolution, but refurnished by Napoleon III and then the public custodians of the place. Just as every room has its history, or histories, every room's furniture and decor is a bit of a melange...some Renaissance, some Louis XIV, some 19th century. (Didn't see any art nouveau). Anyhow, there's no continuous narrative thread for all this, unless you know a lot more French history than I do. 

You'll see paintings of the School of Fountainebleau in many of
the great museums of Europe; this of the 16th century duchessses
of Villars and Beaufort (and the wet nurse) 

Napoleon graciously invited the pope to attend
his coronation as emperor; then held him hostage
some months at Fountainbleau until he was willing
to sign a concordat; this was his bed chamber

Anne of Austria's bed chamber; Louis XIV's mom

Gallery of Francis I; Francois Premier brought the Renaissance
to France, with works like this, and in bringing Leonardo to France
as well

Some details of wood work, painting, etc., in the
Francis I Gallery; it was, at the time, early 16th,
France's greatest hall

Francis I

Somehow, we missed the the great ballroom, an addition by Henry II;
either it was closed or we missed a turn; anyhow, thanks, Wikipedia,
for a great article on Fountainebleau 

Louis XIII salon

Interior courtyard moving from one wing to another

I have a similar photo from 1979; love the "N"
on the grill work

The Diana Gallery; originally Henry IV, then Napoleon, then 
Louis XVIII--now a library, closed off from the tour

The Empress' Great Salon; formerly Marie Antoinette's...

The Empress' Chamber; from Marie de Medici to Empress Eugenie,
all the queens of France occupied this room

Napoleon's throne at Fountainebleau

Napoleonic council table

Napoleonic bed chamber

The abdication room and table--not a copy--where Napoleon
abdicated in 1814

Looking into the (closed) Trinitaire chapel

Exiting via the gift shop

Now venturing out onto the immense grounds

In the English garden

Until a humongous thunderstorm came along and ended our visit

Fountainebleau, 1: The Napoleon Museum

Sunday, September 5th, we took the RER out to Fountainebleau, a quick 35 miles or so, passing through Melun, which we got to know in 2019. We had visited the chateau at Fountainebleau in 1979, we think, and have skipped it in all our subsequent Paris visits. But we thought we'd take another look, a more mature look, this time around. There is a great deal there, the Napoleon Museum and the chateau itself, and the grounds, so I'll do two posts. Lest anyone be mislead, it's still a distant second to Versailles, as French royal palaces go. But it's much older and more historic. And much more complicated.

Fountainebleau and grounds; before we could get nearly this far
in the grounds, a huge thunderstorm came up: end of our tour;
thanks for the picture, Wikipedia

Main entrance, under construction wraps; but the wraps were

interesting

Usually the wraps just picture the building being renovated; this one show members of France's assorted royal dynasties, on the left; every French king and queen, from the 12th century through the Bourbons, made Fountainbleau a home; some were born or died there; on the right, of course, is the new guy, a commoner, tearing his way in...Napoleon didn't spend a lot of time at Fountainbleau--he
was more often away on campaigns--although he favored it over Versailles

Our first tourist train in two years! You don't see them in the city;
but every little town or chateau has one

Another World Heritage Site; we must have seen a couple
hundred over the past 13 years

Anyhow, we are off now into the Napoleon Museum,
which constitutes a floor of one of the chateau's many
wings

Gerard's Coronation portrait

One of David's portraits of the emperor

There were a couple rooms of commemorative dishes and plates
and serving pieces and such from state dinners...after so many
visits to the British Museum and the V&A we are sort of over
serving pieces for now

I'm still into urns, however, especially of General Bonaparte meeting

folks from the Near East

Some of N's campaign kit

Re-creation of N's campaign tent, cot, table and chairs, etc.

Stuff actually worn by him

The first empress, Josephine, gets scant mention
and coverage; Marie Louise of Austria, the second
empress, succeeded where Josephine had not, that is,
in bearing Napoleon an heir; it's complicated

Cradle of Napoleon II

Toys for the heir, who was emperor for two weeks in 1814; was 
given a title; died of TB when he was 21; very complicated

So after Russia and Elba and Waterloo, Napoleon
was off to St. Helens, courtesy of the British, to
write his memoirs; what a book deal it might have
been, had they such things back then

Family tree...very complicated...especially as it gets into some
of today's royal houses

View of some of the chateau as we left the museum wing

Paris Scenes, 2

More not entirely random scenes from our various walks around...

Vicki was running dangerously low on scones and
clotted cream and so we walked up to the Grevin
Marks and Spencer, which was located actually
off the Passage Grevin, one of the better covered 
arcades in the city, one we had visited before...
much nice 19th century stuff

At the Pizzeria Zola, the pizza of the week...
the Proust..."all them memories come floodin' back"

Said to be the only thing in the world that makes Madame Tussaud
look good

At a nearby print store...she'll be inducted into the
Pantheon, only the 6th woman, November 30th;
the highest honor any French person can receive
here, my favorite Paris song...

A boutique in the Marais; Princess Tam Tam was perhaps her
best known movie

The Rue de Petit Carreaux, a lively street from here in the
2nd nearly all the way to the river; changes its name to Rue
Montorgueil after a few blocks; muy famoso

Interesting eel presentation at a fish market

1780 patisserie

"At a house on this site"...lived Moliere, the great playwright

Sad/hopeful view across the river

The other view hasn't changed

Everywhere you turn, beautiful Art Nouveau
buildings, this on the Boulevard Haussmann

Lionel Messi, greatest footballer ever, will soon play for the Paris
team; people are excited

We didn't know what it was until Vicki asked...President Macron's
residence on the Champs Elysees; not pictured: the 40 or so police
vans surrounding the compound

Me doing Duolingo at a cafe...so French!