Smith Family Adventures: Fontainebleu

We took a break after two days at Disneyland to see some of the sites on the outskirts of Paris. We looked up what chateaus were in the area and found the old country retreat of the French kings, Fountainebleu.

It was about a 45 minute drive from our Airbnb at Disneyland set on the edge of a small city that had grown up around it. We ended up entering through a back gate into a large garden on the side of the palace. We eventually found the main courtyard that featured a beautiful double staircase leading up to the front door.

We bought tickets to tour the palace and grounds and started walking through with audioguides. The kids lasted all of 2 minutes before Tyler blitzed through the rest of the palace with the kids leaving Laura behind to enjoy and listen uninterrupted to the audioguide.

There were many sumptuous rooms left as decorated from the time of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as Marie Antionette. Laura's favorite room was Marie Antoinette's bedroom which featured a low balustrade that cordoned off the only private space she had in the entire palace. No one was allowed to enter the area save her.

Other notable rooms included the throne room for Napoleon and his son's nursery. He bestowed the title of 'King of Rome' upon his infant son, by the way.

Tyler and the kids eventually made it to the end of the tour in record time and had a picnic of soup out on the banks of the lake in the 'back yard' of the chateau.