And here I am back to one of my all time favorite places in my belle France and not just the castle but the town too. As said in many posts not to repeat myself ,the Château de Fontainebleau is very special to me. As written many posts on it and the town, let me give some of the spots not mentioned enough me think , in the past.
This time let me tell you a bit more on salle des Gardes or the Guard’s room. Oh yes some figures to bring it back to perspective: The Château de Fontainebleau is 20,000 m2 of roofing area, 1,530 rooms, 115 hectares of parkland; 14 hectares for the large flowerbed garden, 1,145 meters in length of the canal, and 16,000 work of arts preserved.
The salle des gardes or the Guard Room. This large room was that of the King’s guards, guarding the entrance to the sovereign’s apartment. Today, only the French ceiling remains and, at the top of the walls, a frieze of arms trophies and armor painted in oil. In the 19C, under the reign of Louis-Philippe, this initially dilapidated room was transformed into a majestic reception foyer with an overload of figures, ornaments, emblems and currency paying homage to the sovereigns of the past. Adorned with a marble fireplace with the bust of Henry IV and a marquetry parquet floor reflecting the layout of the ceiling, the room eventually became a formal dining room for Napoleon III.
This room was, as long as the kings slept in the keep, the Guards’s room. Indeed, guards were permanently present in front of the door of the king’s apartments, in order to protect him. Louis XIII moved this room. This room is therefore no longer used as a guard room, but rather as a reception room. So he decides to change the whole decor. Original Renaissance decor remains today only the ceiling. But it was by drawing inspiration from the latter that Louis-Philippe had the walls adorned with royal figures of the rulers of the past redone in 1834-1836, which today creates a certain artificial consistency of the the whole decor of this room.
Throughout this series will repeat these two webpages in English, one from the castle and the other the tourist office of Fontainebleau.
Official Chateau de Fontainebleau
Tourist office of Fontainebleau on the castle
And there you go a splendid room to be seen always at the Château de Fontainebleau and a memorable moment for me all the time , whether visiting it or watching it or reading about it. This is Fontainebleau; hope you enjoy the brief tour.
And remember, happy travels, good health and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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