The Fontainebleau forest, located just south of Paris, was a favorite hunting ground for the royal family, and the chateau here began life as a royal hunting lodge. Because of this, a small town was formed to accommodate everything the Court would need. The Chateau in Fountainebleau has been lived in, as a country house, by all French rulers since the Middle Ages. The Palace offers visits to the state departments and the Museum of Napoleon. It was here that he bade farewell to his Old Guard on the eve of his departure for exile to Elba in 1814 - though this was to prove short lived - the subject of a famous painting. There is also the Museum of Military Arts and History which is the home of many valuable military pieces. The forest and area also gave its name to a school of painters - the Fontainbleau School - who were inspired by the wild, rocky and sandy savagery of the forest in the 19th century.
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katie_f.
'Used by the kings of France from the 12th century, the medieval royal hunting lodge of Fontainebleau, standing at the heart of a vast forest in the Ile-de-France, was transformed, enlarged and embellished in the 16th century by François I, who wanted t… Read more...
Written by press. UNESCO
By Nick Trend for The Telegraph First Published July 1, 2009 Less than an hour from Paris by train, surrounded by the towering oaks, birches and heathland of what was once the greatest hunting forest in Europe, is the most fascinating and historically … Read more...
Written by press. Continue reading on telegraph.co.uk
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