Remembering that it is impossible to do everything, Jim and I decided to skip Versailles and go instead to Fontainebleau. He had visited Versailles in the past and comments by recent visitors persuaded me to bypass it. Steve and Becky had also been to Versailles and did not wish to go again. Steve joined us for the trip to Fountainebleau while Becky took a day of rest. The weather was great.

Finding Fountainebleau

About 9:00 we took two Metro lines to Gare d Lyon. Our train was at the platform early so we settled in to wait and wait while more and more passengers jammed the aisles and vestibules.

Hikers, campers, and bicyclists were out for a day, weekend, or week of outdoor fun. They carried tents, beds, rucksacks, bicycles and nourishments for their stay in Boi de Roi forest preserve near Fontainebleau adding both crowding and youthful energy to the trip.

The train arrived at Avon station in an hour and 15 minutes with only one stop. At Avon station a bus whisks you to the gates of Fountainbleau.

By the time we arrived at Avon, we were in serious need of a restroom. We went through the turnstiles only to discover the facilities were inside the station not accessible after we exited.

Transport buses filled up leaving about 30 people stranded including us. Anxiously waiting 30 minutes for the next one, we thought more buses would be helpful considering the number of people visiting Fontainebleau.

Thirty minutes felt like an hour. At long last, the bus arrived and delivered us to the gates of Fountainbleau, We faced a lovely long walk through gardens to the Chateau. None of us were up for a lovely walk at that moment; we immediately found a lovely sidewalk cafe for tasty brunch and lovely clean facilities. Doubly refreshed, we crossed the street approaching the gigantic Chateau.

The Chateau

In 1528, Francois I hired Italian artists to build the original palace. He even convinced Leonardo da Vinci to move to France for the last three years of his life and assist in the design. The chateau has many additions and wings built over centuries. Every king, queen, and emperor loved this palace, and most have left their imprint on it creating a glorious hodge podge of elegant rooms and different styles.

Fontainebleau, seen from the street, is a U-shape building facing a football field sized courtyard and centered on immense horseshoe stairs leading to its impressive doors.

On either side of the courtyard are wings with a completely different architecture. Each wing is about two New York blocks long—longer than a football field. This initial sight is overwhelmingly grand and designed to communicate power and wealth.

Our brunch allowed us to arrive during a lunchtime lull. We sped through security and entrance with tickets on our phone. The tour entrance is on the right wing around the 50 yard line. For future reference and need, we saw a large sign indicating that toilettes were located at the far end of the football field closest to the road.

The Rise and Fall of Napoleon

Fontainebleau has more Napoleon Bonaparte connections than any other palace in France. The first exhibit occupied half of the right wing and presented Napoleon’s life before and during his time as Emporer and King of France. Napoleon lived a life of gold and gilt and military pomp which demonstrated his power, glorified his ego, and echoed his personality. What he carried into battle for his comfort amounted to a small palace on wheels.

To seal the deal of his future ambitions, he divorced Josephine, his true love, and married Princess Maria Louisa of the Austrian Hapsburgs. The birth of Napoleon II called for even more ostentatious golden baby accoutrements and remodeling of palaces for the heir apparent.

Displays also chronicled his defeat at Waterloo and abdication, exile to Elba, short return to power, and eventual exile in the South Atlantic as far away from France as the British could banish him.

Among other renovations, Napoleon added the impressive horseshoe staircase to King Henry IV’s palace giving the Chateau its most outstanding exterior feature. From this staircase, Napoleon gave his farewell abdication speech before being exiled. Glory to the very end. After abdication, Maria Louisa and Napoleon II went home to Vienna and basically disappeared. By this time the Bonapartes had extended royal family occupying thrones and power throughout Europe.

Living the Royal Good Life

The main tour of Fontainebleau itself continued through the right wing and into the central area. This included both original buildings commissioned by Francis I and many subsequent renovations and redecorations by subsequent kings and queens.

The interior is rich in art and design that changed with every French ruler. A warren of interconnected spaces includes royal reception rooms, multiple bedrooms, a glorious ballroom, libraries, guard rooms, etc.

In each of these rooms, we saw elaborate furniture, sculpture, paintings, tapestries, dishes, and bric-a-brac. Excess reigned supreme.

After an hour following a route through all this opulence filled our eyes, heads, and guts. A sense of God-given authority pervades Fontainebleau like a parable on the corruptive influence of power and wealth.

The Saga of No Toilettes

Steve finished the tour first and asked the exit attendants for directions to the toilettes and was told “Outside.” He followed the previously seen sign to the toilettes. Walking from the 50 yard line toward a touchdown, instead of toilettes, he found a sign.

It read “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but during renovations these toilettes are closed” showing a map pointing to another restroom a football field away in the opposite direction and through two archways.

By this time, Jim and Betsy finished the Chateau tour and were also headed for the toilettes. Steve signaled to “STOP” with both hands halt them from walking forward Then in his best Texas French accent, he started shouting, “No toilettes! Non! Non! Non! No toilettes!” And making the football no catch signal.

We found the toilettes. Then we sat down for a rest looking at a large pond at the rear of the Chateau. Steve went to the snack bar. The poor snack attendant had a credit card machine which was malfunctioning. This created a long line of tired and thirsty people digging around for cash. After eating our ice cream bars, we walked back to the bus stop heading for the train.

Ageless Beauty

The bus ride back to the station was uneventful except for the small woman of indeterminate age who sat across from me in the bus. I was taken aback by her powerful presence in the style of Iris Apfel, a doyenne of New York high fashion. reborn.

Sitting directly opposite from her, I tried not to stare, but I had to look. She wore a crown of short red hair perfectly coiffed; an ensemble of top, pants, and handbag in three tones of yellow to gold; a blouse of pink and blue plaid; oversized black frame glasses; large gold circle earrings with a center blue jewel; and the brightest lively blue eyes. Outrageous and beautiful.

I wanted to take a photograph but that felt too intrusive and I had no French to ask permission. As the bus stopped, I was compelled to say something. I bent forward and whispered the only French I could muster, “Tres bien.” And in English “Beauty has no age.” She smiled and replied, “I think I understand.” Alighting the bus with her cane, she disappeared into Avon. But my vision has not.

Postlude

Three travelers got back to Passy apartment 28 from a long day of travel and many sights. So much elegance and opulence, but the visit to Fontainebleau was somehow disappointing.

Betsy said it perfectly, “It was a museum but had no story. It was just a lot of stuff.” The Napoleon exhibit did have a story, but it was a rather bitter story of too much power and too little humanity. I bought a small Fontainebleau book hoping to derive more sense of the people who made Fontainebleau their home.

I believe the Biltmore House in Asheville manages a better balanced presentation of the upstairs downstairs story of the Vanderbilt family living in their mansion.