Chateau de Fontainebleu

A much cooler chateau than Versailles, this beauty began in 1100 and slowly grew to the palace it is today!
Home to Phillip III and Isabella of Aragon, Charles VII, King Francis I as a winter home where he showcased the Mona Lisa and The Virgin of the Rocks before they lived in the Louvre, Henri II, his Mistress, and his wife Catherine de Medici who birthed 6/10 kids there, Louis XIII and his sisters who were baptized in the Chateau's Cour Ovale, Louis XIV, the wedding between Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska, visitors such as Czar Peter the Great, the king of Denmark, Moliere and Voltaire, and then Napoleon refurbished the whole thing after it was trashed during the Revolution making it his second country residence, an imperial palace, and home to his Military Academy.

Napoleon is the most well-known inhabitant of the palace. It was at Chateau de Fontainebleau that Napoleon announced his divorce from Josephine. It is also where he fled after Paris fell in the Campaign for France. The Treaty of Fontainebleau, which ended Napoleon’s rule as Emperor of France and stated his exile to Elba, was ratified by Napoleon on April 13th, 1814. He then attempted suicide after the realization that his empire had come to an end. It is on the grand staircase at the entrance of the Chateau where Napoleon bid farewell to his army in the Court Adieux on April 20, 1814.

Napoleon III preferred this chateau too. They demolished a part of it to begin constructing a new gallery. Then it was shuttered and closed to the public but JD Rockefeller Jr from America helped bring it back to $life$. The Chateau was used as a German operations site during World War II. It was freed by the allied forces in 1944 and was used as NATO headquarters from 1945 until 1965.And now its a UNESCO Heritage site.

-Don't even think about sitting on their chairs. Rooms and rooms of cushioned butt spots with little "No Sitting" signs. Cause that makes sense! :)

I walked these halls!! I can only imagine what the gardens must look like in full bloom. Much like the Chateau de Versailles, it's got a canal and statues but on a much smaller scale. The inside was way cooler than Versailles. And there were no lines or crowds! And it was free to us students. Oh ya. So much happened in these halls and rooms; Europe is so cool!

 Napoleon Rubiks cube for Malo!

 Cherubs for Jaycee!