It was a last-minute idea, to get the American correspondent out of Paris a bit. He was with us only 2 short weeks but above all only 1 full weekend with us. We thought of a Loire chateau, as we did last year with Paola, our young wife from Guatemala who had stayed with us for 6 weeks. And then, the fatigue, the lack of time to organize, but also a "correspondents" evening which happened on Saturday evening with parents from the college and which obviously should not be missed... we finally decided to leave only for part of the day. Direction Fontainebleau and its castle, barely 1h30 by road from Paris.
Well what a good idea I assure you! Already, stroke of luck, it was super nice. Suffice to say that the walk in the gardens/park of the castle was even more extraordinary. And then … this castle! Frankly, nothing to envy to Versailles! Fewer people of course, smaller too, more than enough for 3 teenagers I can tell you.
We chose to do the guided tour "discovery of the castle" – reserved 48 hours before on the internet fortunately – because it is always more interesting to have explanations, anecdotes, from a pro, when you are as bad as us in Art and History.
Note that there is a visit more suitable for families "investigation at the castle "
I loved ! The rooms are superb. The castle is truly magnificent.
Practical information:for lunch, we bet on a safe bet:the Hirondelle crêperie. And to taste it, we unearthed by pure chance this absolutely perfect little "tea room" "Chez Paul et Paulette" (4 rue des Bouchers):really delicious homemade cakes, freshly squeezed juices, coffee, chocolate... Small local beer too. Uh uh. A smiling welcome. In short, a real good time.
