Day 9 in Paris- Fontainebleau

Chateau de Fontainebleau was the home/retreat of French kings and queens since the 1500s. There are actually parts of Fontainebleau that date back to the 1300s, when Saint-Louis ordered a church built on the site. Over the years, different kings tore down and built new wings, so there are many architectural and artistic styles within the building.
We got up early today to get to the Metro, as we were quite nervous on how to get there. We knew we had to transfer to the train from the Metro, but people online made it sound really complicated, which it pretty much was! Originally we were planning to buy a round-trip ticket for 15.9 euros each, but the attendant on duty said for .80 euros extra, it would be a one-day pass and more worth it. So we bought that instead.

The Metro takes you to Gare de Lyon (a major transport hub), but you need to exit the Metro, go up the escalators and enter the train station. From there, look up at the screens to see which train platform you need to be on to get to Fontainebleau-Avon. The whole system is based on the honor system. Nobody came by on the train to check our tickets, and many exits were wide open for people to leave (but also enables people to enter for free). The train ride took 45 minutes, and after getting off, we hopped on the bus to get to the actual chateau.
By the time we got to the chateau (after getting lost right off the bus... had we looked to our left, we would have seen the chateau RIGHT THERE but for some reason we looked to our right and walked that way first), it was around 9AM. The chateau was deserted, but very gorgeous in the morning light with the gilded gates gleaming gold :)
We accidentally paid for the audio-tour (couldn't understand what the lady was saying!), which is 2 euros more than the ticket entrance fee. But, as we found out, well worth the price! The audio really made us appreciate the historical significance of the palace.
One of the first rooms we saw had porcelain dishes built into the wooded walls. Each dish is hand-painted with a significant event, such as weddings, deaths, visits by the royalty to foreign places, etc.

This is Francois I's private passageway to his chambers. It was a completely private hallway, but he would show it off to important visiting dignitaries.


EVERY chamber had a definitive mark by a past king or queen, with their initials or emblems repeated throughout the chateau. For example, in the ballroom, Henri had his initials all over the ceiling, on the chandeliers, on the fireplace and walls (H). The 3 moons intertwined is his symbolic meaning that the French king would rule and conquer the world. There is another symbol with a "C" that also looks like a "D". C is for his queen wife, but D would be taken to mean his mistress, a duchess.

The ballroom... *sigh* What a lovely room! When the King of Siam came to visit, French diplomats wore Thai clothing and crawled on their hands and knees to greet the King, to the dismay of the French court.

Some shots of the lake and gardens from the back courtyard:



Can you spot the hidden door?

The end of the tour took us through the King and Queen's private chambers. Napolean was the last to use these rooms, but he slept mostly in his study so he converted the actual bedroom into a Throne room (the only one left in France).

His repose room, where he would lie down for a quick nap or dress behind the folding wall:


He was not a sleeper, and the French court was amazed by his working ethics. He slept mostly in his study, waking at all hours to do "business" on his desk.

Check out Napolean's bathtub!

This is the table where Napoleon signed his abdication. The staircase entrance to Fontainebleau is where he officially abdicated and was sent into exile.


Marie Antoinette designed the Queen's bed herself, but unfortunately, was never able to use it, as the royal party never got the chance to go to Fontainebleau before the Revolution started.

We walked in the famed Fontainebleau gardens, but it was soooo cold and the gravel was flying around everywhere. Even the pond water was choppy and almost splashed on us!



We decided to walk back to the train station (2 miles away) because there is a famous patisserie on one of Fontainebleau's main streets, Rue Grande. There turned out to be many bakeries on the street, and we stopped in one for a croque monsieur with goat cheese. Yum! It was hot on a freezing cold day, the goat cheese paired very nicely with the crusty bread and melted cheese and ham.

Frederic Cassel has won an award for his baguette, but much is written about his cakes. We bought a pina colada macaron and a violet-cassis macaron, along with a chocolate pistachio croissant, which was very very flaky but could use more pistachio flavor and more filling, as one end of the croissant was too crisp (no filling on that end) and the other end was perfect.

The pina colada did not taste like pina colada, but more like toasted coconut.

The violet-cassis is my favorite, after Pierre Herme. Both flavors were bold but worked well together.

Another patisserie had a very tempting looking almond croissant, so we couldn't resist. This one was oh la la soooo delicious! There was a sugary buo-luo crust on the top of the croissant and the filling was oozing out. It tasted much like Basque cake, but croissant-style! ^.^ We also bought a ham and white asparagus quiche that was very very good... Angel loved the flaky crust and I loved the cheesy filling.

France has Carrefour supermarkets (remember in Taiwan?) and they are freaking cheap! We've been buying small cans of chestnut paste for 2-3 euros, but they had large cans for 2.6 euros! They stocked 2003 Sauternes (the year Chris said there was a drought in France) so naturally we had to buy that too. Here's a picture of our loot for the day:

Since we had an all-day pass, it seemed a shame to just go back to our hotel. After we dropped things off, Angel wanted Pierre Herme macarons. We bought a Apricot-Pistachio macaron,

Cassis Chuou Chocolate macaron (which for 4.1 euro, I said had better be damn good... but it didn't live up to my expectations of Herme ;( ),

and a vanilla bean tart.

The vanilla bean tart had a ganache layer on top, with vanilla bean mousse, white chocolate ganache, biscuit and short dough. Angel loved it!

She says we're going back again tomorrow so she can get a LARGE pistachio macaron. The brat is turning out to be quite an expensive upkeep. Angel said it would be less expensive if I didn't eat half of everything. ;)
On our walk back, there is a famous boulangerie known for its baguette called Gosselin. Since we had already bought a baguette, I thought we'd try out his other famous product, different flavor eclairs. The shop usually has an assortment of rose, pistachio, vanilla, cafe, chocolate and framboise eclair flavors, but as we got there when it was nearing closing time, only framboise and vanilla were left. We bought a framboise eclair, which looked oh-so-beautiful but tasted like cough medicine! Angel said to throw it away, and for the first time, I really did agree with her... I couldn't stomach another bite either >__<

Just about everyone recommends Fauchon to tourists, so we went. Check out one of their eclairs! Guess who THAT is~


We bought a bourbon vanilla macaron

and a framboise rose macaron.

This has got to be the most overpriced store EVER! If Herme is only selling for 1.4, I don't see how Fauchon can justify 1.6. Angel loved the vanilla, both texture and flavor were spot-on for her, but if Herme is cheaper... :) I really liked the framboise rose because the two worked well together and were strong flavors individually. But if Herme is cheaper...