Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau is officially created in 1169. It was Louis VII, called Saint Louis, who discovered it to be a good hunting ground and built a home and a chapel in the present hamlet. It was from then on that Fontainbleau was tightly related to royalty, who started the construction of what is now the castle, visited by over three hundred thousand tourists a year. Besides that Fontainebleau became home of INSEAD, world renown school of business.

From the bowels of the earth once rose the territory of Fontainebleau, out of the water of the seas it rose and was soon populated by plants and animals. It was the Oligocene epoch 34 million to 23 million years before now.

Fontainebleau is officially created in 1169. It was Louis VII, called Saint Louis, who discovered it to be a good hunting ground and built a home and a chapel in the present hamlet. It was from then on that Fontainbleau was tightly related to royalty, who started the construction of what is now the castle, visited by over three hundred thousand tourists a year. Besides that Fontainebleau became home of INSEAD, world renown school of business.

One of it's most creative innovators was most likely François I who brought artists from Italy and had the castle expanded. He brought the Renaissance to France, whose star was Leonardo da Vinci and his services not only profited Fontainebleau, but also those beautiful castles of the Loire valley.

Today Fontainebleau, whose sister town is Avon, where the train station is, is particularly known for its forest that covers over nearly 100 square kilometers. The village of Fontainbleau has about 15 thousand inhabitants, but on weekends, when the market opens, it seems much more. Millions of visitors a year come just to see the forest, to walk and get lost and see wild animals of which exist several thousand specimens.

If you wish to visit Fontainbleau, the best way is to take the train at the gare de Lyon, which takes you on a 45 min ride to Avon, from where you can take a bus to Fontainebleau. You can also climb off at the station before, Blois-le-Roi and walk through the forest.

If you have a car, Barbizon should be on the list of places to visit. And if you have a penchant for poetry, you can drive to Milly-la-foret and visit the castle and church where Cocteau was buried.