Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [270]
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The Petits Appartements (Small Apartments) were the private apartments of the emperor and empress and contain uniforms, hats, coats, ornamental swords and knick-knacks that belonged to Napoleon and his relatives. True buffs can get a second dose of him at Fontainebleau’s Musée Napoléonien d’art et d’histoire Militaire (Napoleonic Museum of Art & Military History; 01 60 74 64 89; 88 rue St-Honoré; adult/under 12yr €4/free; museum 2-5.30pm Tue-Sat, garden 10am-6pm or 7pm Tue-Sat), six rooms of military uniforms and weapons in the 19th-century Villa Lavaurs in town.
In 1863 a set of four drawing rooms were created for the Empress Eugénie, Napoleon III’s wife, whose collection of oriental art forms the Musée Chinois de l’Imperatice Eugénie, accessible only by guided tours.
As successive monarchs added their own wings to the chateau, five irregularly shaped courtyards were created. The oldest and most interesting is the Cour Ovale, no longer oval but U-shaped due to Henri IV’s construction work. It incorporates the keep, the sole remnant of the medieval chateau. The largest courtyard is the Cour du Cheval Blanc (Courtyard of the White Horse), from where you enter the chateau. Napoleon, about to be exiled to Elba in 1814, bid farewell to his guards from the magnificent 17th-century double-horseshoe staircase here. For that reason the courtyard is also called the Cour des Adieux (Farewell Courtyard).
On the northern side of the chateau is the Jardin de Diane, a formal garden created by Catherine de Médicis. Le Nôtre’s formal, 17th-century Jardin Français (French Garden), also known as the Grand Parterre, is east of the Cour de la Fontaine (Fountain Courtyard) and the Étang des Carpes (Carp Pond). The informal Jardin Anglais (English Garden), laid out in 1812, is west of the pond. The Grand Canal was excavated in 1609 and predates the canals at Versailles by over half a century.
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THE FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU
The Forêt de Fontainebleau, a 20,000-hectare wood surrounding the town, is among the region’s loveliest. National walking trails GR1 and GR11 are excellent for jogging, walking, cycling and horse riding, and for climbers the forest is a veritable paradise. Rock climbing enthusiasts have long come to its sandstone ridges, rich in cliffs and overhangs, to hone their skills before setting off for the Alps. There are different grades marked by colours, with white representing easy climbs (suitable for children) and black representing climbs up and over death-defying boulders. The website http://bleau.info has stacks of information on climbing in Fontainebleau.
To give it a go, contact Top Loisirs ( 01 60 74 08 50; www.toploisirs.fr in French; 16 rue du Sylvain Collinet) about equipment hire and instruction. Two gorges worth visiting are the Gorges d’Apremont, 7km northwest near Barbizon, and the Gorges de Franchard, a few kilometres south of Gorges d’Apremont. The tourist office sells Fontainebleau Climbs (€25), translated into English.
The area is covered by IGN’s 1:25,000 scale Forêt de Fontainebleau map (No 2417OT; €9.70). The tourist office sells the Guide des Sentiers de Promenades dans le Massif Forestier de Fontainebleau (€12), whose maps and French text cover 19 forest walks, and Librairie Michel (below) sells À Pied en Famille – Autour de Fontainebleau (FFRP), which maps 18 family walks, 2.5km to 5km long.
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Should you be around longer than a day, you might catch one of the monthly guided visits the tourist office organises of an eclectic trio of lesser-known sights: Fontainbleau’s Musée National des Prisons (National Museum of Prisons; 01 60 74 99 99; adult/child €8.60/6.50; guided tour 3pm last Fri of month), a gruesome portrait of French prisons from the 17th century to the present in a magnificent 19th-century prison with 30 cells; its Musée Motocycliste de la Gendarmerie (Police Motorcycle Museum; 01 60 74 99 99; Camp Guymener; adult/child €8.60/6.50; guided tour quarterly); and the Centre Sportif d’Equitation