The past couple of days have gone FAST, as it’s been all movement, with a little sleep thrown in to keep us going. We made it to Miami Thursday with little trouble aside from the usual horrible Dade County traffic, then flew to Detroit to connect with our flight to Paris. We ended in Paris 11:00 Friday morning (their time) after a 7 hour internment in the flying silver tube, picked up our luggage and rental car, and launched into Paris traffic at Charles Degaulle (CDG) airport. On this trip we rented a small van-sized car, to hold our friends and their luggage coming to Orly airport, for the trip to Fontainebleau and the Loire….this would soon prove to be a major pain!
We navigated through hellish Paris traffic to Orly airport, on the other side of Paris, only to arrive an hour or so BEFORE Sherye and Jack’s flight landed. You can’t just park at a cell phone lot or temporary hang out, So, we cruised to find a cafe to use for a drink and to kill time. HAH! Hard to do: we’d spot a possibility from the highway, but found no way to get to it: blocked from changing lanes for an off-ramp by heavy traffic or marauding motorcycles, or NO EXITS leading to calmer streets. Eventually we found our way to the village of Thaia (sp?), parked the van up on the curb as is the habit in these parts, and found a beat-up diner/cafe where we holed up awhile. Sheryl and Jack finally called in, ready for us to come pick them up, so it was show-time. Back onto the mean streets, worked our way back to Orly airport using GPS guidance, made the pickup, and we GOT OUT of there. Whew…tense driving.
Our destination after Orly airport was Fontainebleau, a huge chateau about 65 miles from Paris used by all the rulers of France since 1300 A.D. It is older than the lavish palace at Versailles by 500 years, and we’d never seen it! The town of Fontainebleau grew up around the chateau, giving us another new place to stay and explore. Our Hotel is the Aigle Noir (Black Eagle Hotel), right across the street from the Garden of Diane in the rear of the chateau. Consistent with other towns in France, there was no useable parking for us, so we had to park in the underground municipal lot nearby. YIKES…NOW I remembered why you never want to rent a big car in France! The parking slots were unbelievably narrow, almost all were full, and huge cement columns were all over the place to support the underground structure. We finally found a spot way down at the bottom, and by using three people outside spotting for me, I was able to back the car into a spot without any damage. Whew, tense driving again!
The exploring of Fontainebleau had to wait to for us to get naps. Once that was done, we checked out the Garden of Diane and all the other outside public spaces of the chateau. Everybody’s favorite fountain was the one with the goddess of the hunt, Diane, holding her bow and a small stag, atop 4 hunting dogs who were pee’ing into the fountain pool, atop 4 big stags spouting water from their mouths. Sounds gross, huh? Much better in person! We walked all over this place…it is huge. The outside architecture shows it was “added onto” by various kings throughout French history, not all planned and built at once like Versailles. Massive beautiful grounds with a meticulously maintained English garden and large pond surround the place.
Dinner that first night was fun, at a place recommended by the hotel, then we crashed for the night. Breakfast was probably the most sumptuous we’ve had at French hotel in my memory. Afterwards, we headed out to explore the inside of the chateau. Hours later we emerged, totally amazed at the beautiful interiors, the huge spaces, and the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by the royals during their centuries of ruling France. This place gives a neat review of French history, since ALL the kings and queens spent time here at one time or another. Lots of Napoleon material here. Odd fact: we saw the Queen’s bedroom, with a “new” bed specially made for Marie-Antoinette that she never got to use. Wonder why she never slept in it? Ahhhh, yes , we remembered a harsh bit of French history to answer that one.
PHOTOS: Here are the ones I've saved so far if you'd like to see:
No comments:
Post a Comment