On this trip to Paris, we decided to visit Chateau de Fontainebleau, which is considered one of the largest royal chateaux in France. 
The drive from Paris was about an hour, and we soon found ourselves in Fontainebleau. Before deciding on taking the tour, we went across the street from the palace for a light lunch.
I had a few slices of it (couldn’t resist), but I also had something “light”– ham and cheese sandwich with my French staple– Orangina hehe:) 
Oh and I couldn’t resist having French Onion Soup,
so I ordered it. *Just looking at these photos now makes me hungry!!!*
After the meal, we walked the wide cobblestoned path towards the palace.
A closeup of the Chateau’s very grand double staircase
Chateau du Fontainebleau was once the royal hunting lodge of the kings of France from the 12th century. In the 16th century, Fontainebleau became home to the first greatly decorated gallery in France, thanks to Francois I. He introduced Renaissance to Fontainebleau and to France. Surrounded by an immense park, this Italianate palace combines Renaissance and French artistic traditions. (source: Unesco World heritage center)
Now that I’ve given you a little 4-1-1 on this chateau, I shall flood the post with photos. I will try to identify the ones I remember 🙂 It was really sensory overload, so if I mislabeled the photos, please do let me know.
The Gallery. This is beautiful. If Versailles had the hall of mirrors, Fontainebleau had Francois I’s gallery with frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino. 
Rich frescoes and beautiful tapestries decorated the walls, ceilings. 
The room opens up to this one– one of the royal chambers.
The throne room, where the King receives his guests
The King’s view of the room 
definitely not too shabby! I love it. I’d be scared to live here, but this is the height of pomp and pageantry as I know it.
Since Queen Marie de Medicis (wife of King Henri IV), succeeding empresses and queens would make this their sleeping chamber up until Empress Eugenie.
This is the king’s bedroom. 
The bed’s so short (and cute) 😀 I wonder how the king could sleep soundly in this room. The room is beautiful, but it’s just so ornate, making it difficult to imagine that the room is one that’s conducive to a good night’s sleep!
I’d like to adopt this chair though 🙂 
A peek into the palace windows– it faces the courtyard.
I loooove these mini chairs! 
I’m soooo finding someone to make these three pieces of mini furniture for me 😀 Errr ok, I need some help looking for an extremely good upholsterer. I loooooove the tufted mini armchair!!! *heart heart*
The remarkably beautiful chapel inside the Chateau
Palace grounds (the gardens)
I love Fontainebleau. Best of all, it’s not as populated by tourists as compared to Versailles, which is arguably the most popular palace in France. We were able to take our sweet time walking through the chateau.
And of course, what’s a visit to a tourist spot without a token souvenir photo? 😀
Here I am, cam whoring *snicker*. 
You see, I didn’t put a heart on my face anymore. 😉 This is probably only the 2nd photo I’ve posted on this blog without a heart on my face… so I’m getting braver showing my face… * hmmm ok let’s not get me too used to that idea hahaha… the heart shall remain!!!*
And what’s more, here I am pretending to be a ballerina doing the arabesque (NOT). Ok, I don’t know why the leg-extension pose, but I guess it’s to remind me (when I look back at this post) that I can still do that… Maybe next year when my bones are more brittle, you won’t see me striking that kind of a pose anymore. So enjoy this photo (or at least pretend that you do hahahaha).
x
Mrs.T
I love the food in Paris, specially entrecote! We weren’t able to fit in Fontainebleau in our schedule during our Paris trip last year, but if as you say it’s comparable to Versallies, then we should definitely visit it in our next trip.