Paris1972-Versailles2003

As I have been saying, Fontainebleau has a nice special meaning to our family. We never lived there but it was the first castle visited in France ever by us. This as consequence that my dear late wife Martine was from the region and she took me there first proud of her Fontainebleau. We have come back several times, I am friend of the castle, and plenty of posts in my blog on it. However, let me tell you about  Memories of Fontainebleau !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I. And onwards with my tour of memorable restaurants and what is coming to France without going to them! Culinary and wine capital of the world!!! This one is short and sassy but lots of good souvenirs. Mind you is an update of an older post, re-living wonderful memories!  If you have read my blog , I will cut it short. Fontainebleau is in dept 77 Seine-et-Marne the region of Île de France of my belle France. It is only about 57 km (about 35 miles) from Paris, 83 km (about 52 miles) from my nostalgic Meaux. It is the most extensive city of the region and mostly covered by a forest; the city itself not counting the castle is 232 hectares or about 573 acres. The Seine river passes by it as well as the smaller river and tributary of the Seine , the Ru de la Mare aux Evées (actually a stream of water). Obviously, this is very close to family and good for same day visits, so not too many eating adventures here, even we do have eaten here! The Le Délice Impérial is a classic there and a must to go eat.  Le Délice Impérial at 1 rue Grande, Fontainebleau. At the corner of rue Grande and rue de France, the superb stall of pastries can not escape the eyes. It must be said that three pastry chefs officiate every day in this house founded in 1889 for our greatest happiness. The house offers on-site catering, but also takeaway. I have been there a couple of times , and the last one in town all day, we ate again at the Le Délice Imperial. They have a huge dessert center where 3 pastry chefs change each day the menu. At the side of the restaurant, they is a small fast food place for sandwiches etc, and you can take home too. We had several beers, coffees, two desserts for each, milk shake, tagliatelle bolognaise, burger dish, and 3 roasted pork dishes, all delicious. Worth the detour when taking time to see the Château de Fontainebleau walking distance to it. The Fontainebleau tourist office on the resto: https://www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/en/file/727825/au-delice-imperial/ The official Le Délice Impérial: https://www.le-delice-imperial-fontainebleau.fr/en/ As a souvenir, this was the first place we ate there while visiting way back that do not remember the date. Our favorite was the Le Caveau des Ducs at 24 rue de Ferrare, but unfortunately it has closed a few years back. I found me more pictures of this memorable spot for our family so will include here and hope you appreciated as I. Just for the memories of always. The main things to see here are the Fontainebleau castle, and its Napoléon and Chinese museums inside as well as the gardens and the forest of Fontainebleau.  Others are the Saint Louis Church, the CSEM or military equestrian sports center, and the Grand parquet on the field of Salamandre, the racecours of Fontainebleau at La Solle. There is also, a nice theater or théatre Municipale. Some of the mansions or architecturally interesting in my opinion here are: The Hôtel de Bellune at 4 rue Saint Honoré, Hôtel de Polignac at 23 rue Saint Honoré, Hôtel de Conti at 27 rue Saint Honoré , Hôtel de Pompadour, at the small street rue de l’Arbr-Sec.  There is an obelisk at the crossing or carrefour de l’Obélisque built in 1786 in honor of queen Marie Antoinette and her children. The curious will go to the forest and see the Priory Notre Dame de Franchard dating from early 411 and rebuilt in 1626 now run by the order of the Trinitarians following the rule of Saint Augustin. Some of the main streets in town are the rue Grande long of almost 3 km and the most the visitor will like to walk on. Others are the Place Solférino, Place Denecourt opening to the grill door of the garden or Jardin de Diane, the famous Place d’Armes , Place François Ier, place de l’Hôtel de Ville, place de l’Etape aux vins and the Place de la République. By the road ,which how I always go there from Versailles you take the A86 towards the A6 by exit/sortie 7,  for Fontainebleau. Rather than drive around for a parking spot, I have become used to park at the same parking each time and never a problem.  Parking Château on Rue Ferrare just on the other side of the main entrance to the castle ,next street over. Another route I take from family and could be useful for those coming from Disneyland is to get on the A4 direction Paris and get off at exit/sortie 15 on the N36 direction Melun and there take the D606 direction Fontainebleau right into the rue Grande. An anecdote which I like to tell is that upon meeting my then girlfriend Martine in September 1990, she was eager to take me on her VW Golf to visit the castle as she drove, Well the recollection of the roads escapes me now but the bottom line was, she got lost !!! Not to much driven as she took the trains to go to work and the car to see her older brother in the Nord (59) dept, So I say let me see the map (no gps!) and which town we are in now, She told me, took the map got myself the route and hit it right on Fontainebleau !! I joke then that me the rookie road warrior in France show her how to drive lol ! Of course, she was grumpy about it and I let it cool off, Years later it was one of our funny moments,I am still the road warrior in France !! The official Château de Fontainebleau:  https://www.chateaudefontainebleau.fr/en/ The Friends of Fontainebleau castle (I am since 2005) :  https://www.amischateaufontainebleau.org/ The city of Fontainebleau on the castle: https://www.fontainebleau.fr/bouger-et-sortir/decouvrir-fontainebleau/la-vraie-demeure-des-rois-la-maison-des-siecles-524.html The Fountainebleau tourist office on the castle: https://www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/en/fiche/670011/palace-of-fontainebleau/ The Seine et Marne dept 77 tourist office on the Fontainebleau castle : https://www.tourisme-seine-et-marne.fr/visiter-decouvrir/incontournables/670011-chateau-fontainebleau/# The Île de France region Tourist office on the castle:https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/chateau-de-fontainebleau There you go folks, a huge spot in my life if you have read my blog and especially posts on Fontainebleau. My dear late wife Martine was from the area, and this was the first castle ever visited in France for me. We always have a great time in a wonderful city with a hugely important castle, Fontainebleau is for the memories of always. Again, hope you enjoy this post on memories of Fontainebleau !!! as I And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!