My cycling map showed a bicycle route along the right bank of the Seine River leading southeast out of Paris towards the place where the Seine is joined by its tributary the Marne. For some reason I wanted to go there (even though this is not exactly the most picturesque Read More …
The towns of Charenton-le-Pont (to the south) and Vincennes (to the north) both border directly on a pleasant wooded area called the Bois de Vincennes (Forest of Vincennes), which actually belongs to the city of Paris. In the 13th century this patch of woods was used as a royal hunting Read More …
The Carrousel du Louvre is an underground shopping center directly adjoining the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was built from 1991 to 1993 as part of the second phase of the Grand Louvre project, and includes an entrance to the museum itself, which is open “at peak times” (according to Read More …
The Louvre in Paris began as a fortress, built starting in 1190 at the behest of King Philippe Auguste (1165-1223). The fortress was at one end of Philippe Auguste’s wall, a system of city fortifications that he ordered built because he didn’t want the city to be left undefended while Read More …
This little park at the western (downstream) tip of the Île de la Cité in Paris was named after the French King Henri IV (1553-1610), who was known as “Le Vert Galant” because of his many mistresses that he continued consorting with at a (relatively) advanced age. Actually he only Read More …
Trains from the Gare de Lyon in Paris arrive once or twice an hour at Fontainebleau-Avon on what is now called the Transilien R line. Currently (as of 2021) a full-price one-way point-to-point ticket from Paris to Fontainebleau-Avon costs € 8.85. This does not include the bus from the station to Read More …
A square in the center of Fontainebleau is named after Napoléon Bonaparte, who chose the Château of Fontainebleau as an Imperial Residence (one of several) during the First Empire (1804-1814). Napoléon was in Fontainebleau in 1814 when he was deposed, for the first time, and sent into exile on the Read More …
Fontainebleau’s municipal theatre is described on the city’s website as a “symbol of the cultural identity of Fontainebleau.” The theatre was built starting in 1905 in a “Louis XIII style that combines brick and stone,” and was inaugurated in 1912. It is not a part of the Château, but is Read More …
The original furniture disappeared from the palace of Fontainebleau during the French Revolution, so what we see now was acquired mainly during the nineteenth century, or from antique dealers in the twentieth. According to the Château’s website, the interior of the Château as we see it today looks “more or Read More …
In this photo from around 1910, a train has just arrived from Paris and is waiting on the quay in Cherbourg. The photo, much enlarged, is now on display at the spot where it was originally taken over a century ago. The railway line from Paris to Cherbourg was inaugurated Read More …