FRANCE - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 200

her apartments. Madame de Maintenon moved to Fontainebleau under the aus-
pices of Louis XIV in 1686 and into a room that bears her name even today.
Since the beginning of the 17th century, every queen of France has slept in the
queen's bedchamber within the palace. Marie Antoinette ordered the bed that now
graces the chamber, but because of unfortunate developments, she never had the
opportunity to lay her head upon its pillows.
When Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of France in 1804, he had Fon-
tainebleau refurbished and refurnished to receive Pope Pius VII, who had come
to crown him. From 1812 to 1814, the pope was also in residence in Fon-
tainebleau—only this time he was not an invited guest but Napoleon's prisoner.
Not all of Napoleon's residence at Fontainebleau was surrounded with the fringe
benefits befitting an emperor of his stature; he had some bad days, too. He signed
his abdication in a room known now as the “Abdication Chamber” (formerly a bath-
room) on April 6, 1814. Nineteen days later, he bade farewell to his officers and
bodyguards in the Court of the White Horse from the horseshoe-shaped grand
staircase that is now the main entrance to the palace.
Fontainebleau, unlike Versailles, possesses the secret of intimacy, no doubt due
to the fact that each successive generation of kings or emperors added a wing of
his own to the structure. The palace is full of nooks and crannies. There are back
staircases and tapestries that pull aside to reveal secret hallways. Living in Fon-
tainebleau, its occupants were surrounded by romance and intrigue. In a sense, it
probably was the earliest version of the current “no-tell motel,” but it had far more
class!
The Germans used Fontainebleau as a military headquarters during World War
II. Following the war, it served as a seat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) until 1965, when it became a public museum.
If you take the tour, and you should, your tour guide will lead you first through
the Red Room, scene of Napoleon's abdication, then, in turn, through the Council
Room, the Throne Room, and the Queen's Bedroom. From there, you pass
through the Royal Apartments, then down the King's Staircase to the Oval Court,
where the tour ends. It's intriguing.
The gardens and parks surrounding the palace are lovely throughout the year.
You are invited to bring your own picnic lunch and spread it out on the royal grass
as long as you don't litter the imperial landscape.
Day Excursion to