"The happiest place on earth"

Get email updates of new posts:        (Delivered by FeedBurner)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

France 2010 - Day 6, Part 1 - Fontainebleau

"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" - Henry David Thoreau

***

France 2010
Day 6 - 8th October - Fontainebleau
(Part 1)

The previous night, I'd seen an oldish man and a youngish girl in the hotel lift. He was probably Russian. I wonder if she cost more than the room. It was also observed to me that the more expensive the hotel, the more prostitutes were seen. I pointed out that housecalls wouldn't be made to cheap hotels - instead the goods would be consumed closer to their place of sale.


Today, we headed to the Château of Fontainebleau, about 55km from Paris which served French sovereigns over 8 centuries.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Ne me jetez pas ! (Pour sauver l'environnement, s.v.p)"
("Don't throw me! (In order to save the environment, please)")
Plea to housekeeping not to dump the ice cup

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Le Partenaire du Plaisir"
("The Partner of Pleasure")
Another condom dispenser on the street

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Toy firemen in Montparnasse railway station (which had steps which this wouldn't be able to go down). You probably wouldn't see this in Germany.

Line 14 of the métro was the first where I'd heard announcements - in any language - in 2010.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Gare de Lyon

Sign above one railway counter: "I speak English". Hah.

Buying a ticket to go to Fontainebleau was a big pain. The station was not on the RER (suburban rail) system, so I went to the SNCF machines - but they were not sold there, which was irritating as the trains there were run by SNCF (the French railway company). So I went to the reception, and was asked to go upstairs to buy my tickets. Above me were the train platforms, so I asked the person at the ticket counter, and was told the same. So I went up and wandered in confusion for a while (missing the next train to Fontainebleau), being rejected at both ticket counters and machines before finding a counter for tickets for the Ile-de-France (the region which includes Paris and Fontainebleau).

The Chinagora hotel, which I saw from the train, was very ugly. Here is a picture someone took from a boat:



The tickets I bought were the size of normal métro/RER tickets - and were too small to validate in the ticket validation machines on the platform, yet the train conductor asked me why I had not validated my ticket. So I just told him the machine was spoilt and that was the end of it (the Gallic shrug is useful in instances such as this).

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Very nice apple pastry breakfast

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
The problem of fare evasion is just that bad these days in France - the railway police have batons and pistols. Also the clock had stopped, Gah.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Very slack Bureau Veolia Transport. And it's closed on weekends and public holidays too.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Courrier international: a magazine "en direct de Pékin".

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Not only are her heels wth, she speared a leaf with her right heel

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Rue Grande

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Very popular boulangerie (bread shop). This was the only boulangerie I saw that had people queuing outside.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Sur la route nous sommes tous fragiles ! Respirez - souriez - ralentissez"
("On the road, we are all fragile! Breate - smile - give way")

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Huge market for such a small town

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Very large church

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another Milou (Snowy)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another dog

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Manhattan Gigolo"
Mysteries of the universe" why does a shop for gigolos only sell women's clothes"

I would've continued into the Château, but someone needed to stop for lunch so I had no choice.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Only half the entrées are translated for some reason. This was also the first time in Europe I'd seen struckout prices

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Bavette

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Grilled ham and port sauce
This was a very good ham, with the most fat I'd seen and visible (and tastable) veins of meat.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Trout with butter and almonds

Their dessert menu was amusing

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Ménage à Trois. This term isn't *quite* as suggestive in French as in English.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"La Passion des Desserts : Authenticité, Créativité, Passion"

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
This looked like a tarte aux cérises (cherry tart) from afar but it was actually a tarte aux raisins (grape tart)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Ile flottante avec crême anglaise (Floating Island with Custard)

There're products to make eyelashes longer. Uhh.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
This should be the Hôtel de Ville (place you can wander into and sleep in overnight)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Jardin de Diane

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Path in Garden

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Path to Palace Comple

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cour d'honneur: Cour des Adieux

Literally, this is "Courtyard of Honour", but this is an architectural term for "a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms". It is called the Courtyard of Farewells because this is where Napoleon bade farewell to his troops after attempting suicide (2 weeks after his abdication in 1814).

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
One flank of Cour des Adieux


Panorama of Cour des Adieux

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Alley

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cobblestone path to complex

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Gate and Cour des Adieux

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cour des Adieux


Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cour des Adieux

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
One flank of courtyard

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Flank, lanterns and bench

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Horseshoe Staircase from an angle. Napoleon had made his farewall here.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Fountain

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Horseshoe Staircase again

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Again, the horseshoe staircase

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Portal

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cour des Fontaines


Panorama of Cour des Fontaines

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Building

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
A Prime Product of Gallic Engineering - when you twist the knob on the right, it will pull the handle on the left, thus opening the door.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Etang des Carpes (Carp Pond)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Statue and Cour des Fontaines

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
One wing of Cour des Fontaines. Apart from the lions there doesn't seem to be anything else Oriental here

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Right Lion closeup

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another wing of the same

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Wing and carp pond

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Advertisment for Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Wedding in Cour des Adieux

After all this exterior photography, I was ready to enter the Château proper.


Les françaises étaient tellement mignonnes, mais je n'ai jamais bandé (à cause d'elles)
blog comments powered by Disqus
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Latest posts (which you might not see on this page)

powered by Blogger | WordPress by Newwpthemes