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).
Place Napoléon Bonaparte, Fontainebleau
Napoléon was in Fontainebleau in 1814 when he was deposed, for the first time, and sent into exile on the island of Elba under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
Hôtel Napoléon, Rue Grande, Fontainebleau
In Fontainebleau, Napoléon gave an emotional farewell speech to his troops, before leaving for Elba. He later returned to France for 100 days, before suffering his final defeat at the battle of Waterloo, Belgium, in 1815.
See also: Tomb of l’Emperrrreurrrrr in Paris.
Place Franklin Roosevelt
Like many other French cities, Fontainebleau has a square named after the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945).
This is where the Fontainebleau city hall is located, also the post office and the bus stop where you can catch the bus back to the train station Fontainebleau-Avon.
Place Franklin Roosevelt
Starting in 1953, Fontainebleau was the headquarters of the Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) under the command of the American general Dwight D. Eisenhower. This NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) command headquarters remained in Fontainebleau, in various forms, until France withdrew from NATO’s centralized military structure in 1967.
Postes et Télégraphes
This post office building still has its original name “Postes et Télégraphes” chiseled in stone above the front door, but now the official name is just “La Poste”.
My photos in this post are from 2014. I revised the text in 2021.
See more posts on Fontainebleau, France.
Brings back so many memories looking at the town centre. It was very quaint (and very French) back in 1978; had been smartened up a bit by 2003. At both Fontainebleau and Versailles I’ve stayed overnight in the town rather than just see the chateau and leave. Both were great places to stay, although both times I’ve visited Versailles it’s rained the whole time!
Glad I could bring back some memories for you. I also had an extremely rainy day in Versailles a few years back: https://operasandcycling.com/louis-xiv-and-his-versailles-palace/
I was trying to figure out how Napoleon and FDR would ever have met. It was only a geographic meeting. 🙂
My “like” button isn’t working Don.
Leslie
Yes, I realize, but I still think it must be because of gravatar. Looking through the “likes”, I see that they all come from people who are logged in through wordpress.com or through their own self-hosted websites.
Interesting. We didn’t go downtown. We caught the bus back to the train station right across from the Chateau. We got caught in a Fontainebleau traffic jam once when driving and didn’t want to even see the town. Odd how traffic jams affect you. Trains are a salvation.
Enchanting small town. I terribly like it.