Fontainebleau’s big five | The West Australian

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Fontainebleau’s big five | The West ***********

The French countryside is garlanded with grand estates, many of them built in pre-revolution times as summer residences for royals and other aristocrats. While Versailles is the most celebrated, there are many others that welcome visitorsm and few take the breath away like the Chateau de Fontainebleau. Ideal for a day trip (or overnight getaway) from Paris, it’s 50km south0east of France’s capital. Tour operators offer excursions here, but you can travel independently by rail in 40 minutes from Paris’ Gare de Lyon. Here are five highlights of Fontainebleau.

The centrepiece of this UNESCO World Heritage-listed retreat is the chateau itself, a handsome complex of adjoining buildings constructed and sumptuously furnished over several centuries. Initially used by French monarchs as a medieval hunting lodge, it was embellished into a grandiose Renaissance palace and hosted significant historical figures including King Louis XIV, Queen Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon Bonaparte. You can set foot in several of the 1500-plus rooms, admiring prized tapestries, gilded bedchambers, exquisite chandeliers and incredible frescoes. Discover more about the design and decor — and their links to Fontainebleau’s former residents and guests — on a guided tour of the chateau apartments, included in the price of admission (€14/$23 for adults, free for under-18s). Your ticket also allows access to the Napoleon Museum, which is stocked with artefacts and charts the emperor’s family history.

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