Versailles and Fontainbleau

Andrea, Nancy and I made the trip to Versailles, this time in a car as opposed to a train, which saved us about an hour and twenty minutes.  We visited the Grand Canal today so that Nancy could get a feel for the grounds, which are very nice.  Afterwards we had a nice lunch in Versailles at a cute American diner, and then continued the day in Fontainbleau.

This was extremely fortunate since I was finally able to see the palace that several monarchs, including Napoleon Bonaparte, lived in.  Even better, we each had another delicious chocolate pyramid, an exquisite pastry discovered by Andrea and Nancy when they visited the Fontainbleau palace last week.

I was very fortunate that they brought me back a sample last week, but today I was able to experience the pyramids from the source.  Back to the palace, the property really is beautiful and enormous.

I wasn’t able to see the inside but the exterior was very well manicured and peaceful.  The horseshoe staircase where Andrea and I took a picture together is the same stairwell where Napoleon exited and said good-bye to his subjects as he was exiled from France.

Before this trip I really only thought of Napoleon as a short, pompous ass, but now I am much more curious about his life and legacy.  Clearly he did a lot for France, especially Paris, and I hope to read more about him at some point soon.

Alas, tomorrow is my last day here.  I suspect I’ll go into Paris at some point, although I haven’t fully decided in what capacity.  Obviously I have to pack as well.  It’s supposed to be raining tomorrow, so I suppose my activities will be limited.  Check back tomorrow for what will indeed be the very last blog entry from France!

This entry was posted on August 14, 2007 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.