Wednesday
23 May 2018.
After a twelve kilometre ride through fresh countryside
and along busy freeways Lynn, Sian and I arrived at the tradesmens entrance to
the Chateau, walked down the tree-lined avenue between the English Garden and
the four acre Carp Pond before eventually arriving at the slightly chaotic, temporary ticket office and prefab supporting structures erected at the
beginning of the month. The Palace is simply a breathtaking experience marred
slightly by the extensive renovation program being undertaken with the
resultant storeys of scaffolding and cladding and a number of the sights being
closed. A few pictures…
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| The 'Gros Pavilion' on a misty morning. |
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| One of two, gifts from the King of Siam. |
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| The Horseshoe Staircase when guests first entered the Palace. |
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| Napoleon's coronation sword |
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| Another foible. |
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| The Archduchess Marie Louise's room. |
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| Napoleon's only son's cradle. |
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| The Queen Mother's bedroom. |
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| A guardroom, its walls clad in leather. |
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| The gallery of Francis I |
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| Yet another foible. |
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| Gallery of Diana. |
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| The Queens Bedroom |
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| The Throne Room |
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| Napoleon's office. |
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| A view to the Diana Garden. |
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| Scaffolding and cladding. |
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| A brighter view after the mist had cleared. |
If you want to know more then read Wiki or the official
Chateau Fontainebleau website.
After
some three hours of gaping we loaded sore feet aboard the bikes and sped home.
"Home" I take it was Saint Mammès? Coming the other direction, my Plan A would be to cycle from Samois. Looks awesome. Definitely looking forward to a visit.
ReplyDelete'Home' was Moret-sur-Loing. Samois was closer but we thought the weather was turning so chose the longer ride. Weather stayed good but Samois did not - see next post.
DeleteI feel a lunch of baguette, cheese and wine while lolling about in a row boat coming on...
ReplyDeleteOne way to get into the mood!
Delete;-)
;-)