While in Paris, I was able to take a few different day trips to the outskirts of Paris to visit some truly awe-inspiring places. One of the trips was to visit the Chateau de Fontainebleau. The palace is located 55 kilometres south-east of Paris in the sub-prefecture of Seine-et-Marne. I took the Paris metro to Gare de Lyon where I hopped on another train to the destination. After I got off of the train, it was just a simple taxi ride to the palace which makes this a great day trip destination.
Dating back to the 12th century, the Palace of Fontainebleau has over 1500 rooms (!) , 130 acres of land, and is the only palace that has been continuously inhabited for over seven centuries hosting many royal families. Its proximity to the large forest of Fontainebleau made it a prime location for the Kings of France.
I was able to go on a great tour of the palace and while I only saw a few rooms, I learned so much about the palace and the Kings and Queens who inhabited the rooms we visited.
Here is a little tour of the views and rooms:
This is the Gallery of Diana. It’s one of my favorite areas of the palace that I visited. The Gallery was rebuilt in the 19th century to serve as a banquet area and then a library for Napolean III:
You may recognize some of the details of this space from the Lana Del Rey video Born to Die since the opening sequence for the music video was filmed here. It’s the Trinity chapel which was was built in the 16th century to replace a church in the same spot originally built by Saint Louis. Louis XV was wed in this chapel in the 1700s and Napoleon III was baptized in the chapel in the early 1800s.
Another view of the Trinity Chapel:
Located in the former medieval keep that existed on the site, this is the Second Saint Louis room. It served as the King’s bedroom until Henri IV when it served as an antechamber. Many of the paintings depict scenes from Henri IV’s life.
(Click on the Read More below to see more photos from the Palace of Fontainebleau…)
