What to do and see in Fontainebleau, Ile-de-France: The Best Sights & Landmarks

Reviewed By Ivisitedtheplace - Israel, null

I visited this place... with my wife, Mrs. H. It was her choice and decision to come here- full disclosure: I’m not sure that I remembered or knew anything about this place from my knowledge of French history. We had been to Versailles in 1982 and I had read on TripAdvisor (hey-is there anything else that I do?) about the crowds and lines at the other place, so this became our destination. The palace is included in the Paris Museum Pass and the entire round trip journey is included in the weekly Navigo Decouverte pass. Total extra cost then for this excursion: zero zip zilch effes. As you know from reading my previous review, we departed from Gare de Lyon. Our train was cancelled and delayed, so we had some extra 30 minutes of waiting time (and you can see my photos of that to know what I did and saw during that time). So we took the 40 minute train journey and the city bus (passing a sign regarding a historic synagogue that we did not visit). The mansion boasts 1500 rooms and it is obvious that only a section is in use for exhibition. Mrs. H and I had a disagreement as to whether we visited either forty or fifty rooms. At the entrance, there are key pad lockers to store your stuff- be sure to do that- it makes the wandering quite bearable. Now overall, the place and the palace and the building and all the rooms and all the amazing stuff on display are quite remarkable. But the lighting leaves quite a lot to be desired- maybe the goal is the actual illumination during the days and era when the place was in active royal use. As is known and as is stated in my headline for this review, this was the famous and beloved and very frequented palace and royal residence of the one and only Napoleon Bonaparte himself (see my reviews and photos of the magnificent painting of his coronation in my Louvre review and my comments and photos of his sarcophagus and tomb in my Musée de l’Invalides review- both submitted within the last month or so (December 2019). Anyway- being a person quite interested in history and who simply loves and craves being in historical places, this visit was outstanding and amazing and breath taking- primarily because- and I admit- I didn’t know what I was going to be seeing. So now I am about to ruin the shock value for you- read on, my friend. The rooms and the stuff in them were amazing and unbelievable. To chance upon an amazing historical piece that I did not expect- so exciting and incredible- leaving me almost breathless- and here are four of the things: Napoleon’s original tri cornered hat!! What’s more incredible than that? I spent some time posing for many selfies with that hat prompted squarely on my patê (you can see his hat in my attached photos, but don’t look for me in my photos submitted here though). And then his guest rooms and the bedroom and baby cradle of his beloved son, and stuff of his wife and then- so amazing and what a fantastic surprise- his throne room with his throne chair, his bedroom with his small bed (hey- Wikipedia says that he was 160 centimeters- not so bad), and then the document room, where he resigned before going into exile. All of this and more were amazing- causing Mrs. H to start sending me WhatsApp messages again, to extract me (just as she had needed to do in the three Monet museums of Marmottan, d’ Orsay and L’Orangerie). Once she succeeded in forcibly extracting me from reveling at being in the very presence and location of iconic Napoleonic history, we went outside to the top of the gardens and lake. Yes- we saw the rowboats. After that, we departed. So please sign up follow me on TripAdvisor to see of my continuing Paris adventures. So please enjoy my many photos showing what I’ve described. And hey- doesn’t this very extensive and detailed review deserve a “like” from you?