Ottawa to Paris: Château de Fontainebleau

Château de Fontainebleau has been a sovereign residence for eight centuries. Capétiens, Valois, Bourbons, Bonaparte and Orléans, all members of French ruling dynasties, have lived within these walls. Kings and queens, emperors and empresses have all made their own improvements to the château, which is built around the original keep. The estate became a huge palace in which many momentous historical events happened.

Napoleon I said goodbye right here. Laissant face à lui un fort détachement, les Alliés marchent sur Paris qui capitule le 31 mars 1814. Napoléon apprend la nouvelle en arrivant à Fontainebleau et, poussé par ses maréchaux, signe sa première abdication le 11 avril. La convention qui lui accorde l’île d’Elbe est signée par les Alliés, et le 20 avril, il quitte Fontainebleau au cours de la célèbre cérémonie des Adieux, dans la cour du Cheval blanc.

We arrived on the first Sunday of the month, which meant that our visit was free. I found our visit to Versailles last Christmas overwhelming because of all of the people. There were many fewer people at Fontainebleau and it was possible to explore and to enjoy. Although we rented a car, it is an easy train ride from Paris.

Pierre reinacting Napoleon's goodbye.

Because the chateau was built by many different kings, it is a sprawling building with many different styles. Whether inside or out, you can usually spot whose part of the chateau it is. Above, Francois I has marked his chimney. Inside doors, ceilings, windows...are marked with the different monarch's initials.

Chateau de Fontainebleau first appears on a map of Louis VII that dates from 1137.

One of Napoleon's sport outfits. He looked to be about my height--5'3".

This is the toiletry kit he took with him while he was on the Egyptian campaign. There was also one of his lavish tents.


Marie-Louise

Napoleon did not have an heir and said he need to "find a womb." He found Maire-Louise. According to Wikipedia: While Napoleon's mistresses had children by him, Joséphine did not produce an heir, possibly because of either the stresses of her imprisonment during the Reign of Terror or an abortion she may have had in her 20s. Napoleon ultimately chose divorce so he could remarry in search of an heir. In March 1810, he married Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria, and a great niece of Marie Antoinette by proxy; thus he had married into a German royal and imperial family.

They remained married until his death, though she did not join him in exile on Elba. The couple had one child, Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles (1811–1832), known from birth as the King of Rome. He became Napoleon II in 1814 and reigned for only two weeks. He was awarded the title of the Duke of Reichstadt in 1818 and died of tuberculosis aged 21, with no children.