Day 6 - Fontainebleau

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Today we headed out to Fontainebleau by car. It was under an hour and we made our first stop at the Chateau de Fontainebleau. This is the chateau that was lived in the longest by a string of nobility spanning over 400 years, including two of the Napoleons (I and III). The chateau itself was extensive, having been expanded over the centuries several times by each resident King. Once beyond the chateau and into the grounds, there was a huge pond stocked with large carp (including one albino one), extensive gardens and several additional buildings (likely stables, living quarters for the staff, etc). Next stop was the Grand Parquet. We had expected to find a fun kids fair but instead today turned out to be the Gran Prix of steeplechase horse racing. A seriously major event (all locals, no tourists, which was cool) and we never found the kids fair. There were many different setups for steeplechase competitions so we watched that for a while. It was impressive! Then we walked around the exhibits and got close up with lots of horses. We offered to buy Russell a new saddle but he was not interested. There was tons of "horse" paraphernalia for sale. I thought I saw handcuffs too but they were bits. We had a couple crepes, inducing sucre and Nutella. Next, along the road back towards the A6 we drove though a very large forest and stopped at one of many hiking trails along the way. Each trail was named and we selected Rue de Petites Maisons. There were no small houses on the trail.....maybe the name gets lost in translation. The trail was nice and peaceful and we did not pass any other people. Oddly there are no squirrels here. Headed back home to relax and figure out what to do tomorrow!

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Photos

Chateau de Fontainebleau
This view captures some but not all of the front view of the chateau

Gardens out back
Beyond the chateau

Fountain
Notice the dogs peeing and the deer puking

Horse jumping
Called steeplechase

Rue de Petites Maisons
Trails through Foret de Fontainebleau.