THE PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU

FONTAINEBLEAU PALACE

We decided to take a Saturday excursion to the Palace of  Fontainebleau  which is about 35 miles from the center of Paris and one of the largest French royal chateaux. The chateax is adjoined by a park with ponds, canals and tree covered paths (those kings thought of everything).  The lovely town of Fontainebleau is immediately adjacent to the chateaux and less touristy then Versaille.  The entire chateax and town is in the midst of a huge forest -  three times the size of Manhattan. 

TREE COVERED PATHS

I must confess that we were continually comparing this to our previous Saturday experience when we visited the Palace of Versailles with all the other tourists (there was a 3 hour wait to get into the palace). Amazingly, there were very few tourists at Fontainebleau - no lines and we had the chateaux apartment rooms to explore at our leisure. Overall, we preferred our Saturday in Fontainebleau to Versaille.

INSIDE THE PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

FONTAINEBLEAU PARK

CANAL IN PARK

PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU

MELUM

On the return to Paris we made a stop at Melun which we could do easily because we had the five zone daily pass.   The pass was cheaper than the round trip ticket to Fontainebleau and it was also good on the buses.    

PARIS GARNIER OPERA HOUSE

Recently,  I had the pleasure of visiting the "most famous opera house in the world" - the Paris Opera - Palais Garnier (not to be confused with the Opera Bastille).  My friend Michele,  said she appreciated the Palace more than the museums.  That being said, I took the opportunity to get tickets to the sold out Tokyo Ballet performance which was my last chance to see a performance in the Palais before we leave on June 1.  I waited around and fortunately someone showed up with tickets to sell.  (The Vintage traveler never walks away from a sold out performance.) 
      

 CHAGALL

It was an absolutely magnificent experience.   By far the best was the ceiling painted by Marc Chagall and spectacular chandelier. 

VIEW FROM MY 12E SEAT



The other cool thing about this Opera Palais is the activity on the front outside steps - so far I've seen couples dancing to opera music and on other ocassions bands playing.   It seems to be quite the meeting place - once again the comment "things are different here" continues to hold true.   

JULIA CHILDS' PARIS

Today was my day to follow "Julia Childs' Paris" which is one of the 25 walks as described in the book : Forever Paris: 25 Walks in the Footsteps of the City's most Illustrious Figures by Christina Henry.  I really love the book because it provides some interesting information about the "illustrious figures" and then gives a good walking directions along with a map.  I appreciate it even more after today because I was able to follow the directions without getting  lost - this is saying a lot because I have a horrible sense of direction.


In Photos -Julia Child's Paris:

ALONG RUE CLER
CHILD'S SHOPPING STREET

BELLOTA BELLOTA
SPECIALIZES IN SPANISH HAMS & CHEESE

ALONG RUE JEAN NICOT

CHILD LOVED TO STROLL ALONG THE SEINE

81, RUE DE l'UNIVERSITE
JULIA LIVED HERE WITH HUSBAND PAUL
KITCHEN WHERE IT ALL STARTED

E. DEHILLERIN
CHILD'S FAVORITE SHOP

E. DEHILLERIN
"THE KITCHEN STORE OF ALL TIME"

ART AND STYLES IN BELLEVILLE PARIS

The  Secrets of Paris blog that I have been following recommended a favorite annual event in Paris that was taking place this weekend. It is called Portes Ouvertes Des Ateliers D'Artistes and offers an opportunity to visit the studios of over 200 artists in the Belleville area.   It sounded like fun so off we go.
It was a rare sunny day in Paris so we visited two nearby parks as well - Parc des Buttes Chaumont and Parc de Belleville.  
It was fascinating to get inside the courtyards and living quarters of the artists, in addition, to seeing the the huge colorful murals painted on the many outside walls.  Once again the comment "things are different here" continues to hold true.


These styles are selling in Belleville Paris:

More colorful photos from the Belleville: 

PARIS MONTMARTRE

On May 1, we arrived at the "Room with a View" in Montmartre Paris which we reserved for a month sight unseen.  It turns out to be just as described by the owner and we are very comfortable here on the 9th floor overlooking rooftops with a view of the Sacre-Coeur in the distance (far distance).    As long as the ancient elevator keeps running we should be fine.  The very best part of our apartment is that we seem to be living where the Parisians live and thankfully away from the hordes of tourists.  We have a park close by that is continually filled with kids and parents. 

  The fact that most of the people here are thin will always be a puzzle to me due to the fact that every other corner has a bakery on it.  How can fresh bread and tempting pastries keep people so thin?  Apparently, obesity in France is on the increase  and it is being blamed on fast foods like McDonald's - this doesn't pass my "garage logic" test.     

I hesitate to write about Paris because I think everything that could have been said has already been said many times already.  I was amazed at all of the books, blogs and movies available on Paris in preparing for this trip.  I read many books before arriving and there were hundreds out there that I missed.  I made notes and have added lots of travel books on my kindle (many free from the library) and, of course, we have our laptops to research whatever we need.   Not sure what all I will accomplish but my main goal is to experience a month in Paris in my Vintage years.

Photos of Montmartre:

SACRE-COEUR

SACRE-COEUR

AU LAPIN AGILE
PICASSO'S FAVORITE HAUNT

LA BONNE FRANQUETTE
ARTISTS' HAUNT - EARLY 1900'S

VINEYARD  RUE SAINT-VINCENT
THE "VIGNE DE MONTMARTRE"

STYLES AT PRINTEMPS PARIS

Styles as seen today at Printemps Paris.  Yes, they  have flower heads.  I love flowers and it was funny which is why I decided to share them, however, I think flower heads distracted from the styles. 
I like Printemps description for the spring season which is ".... freshness, colour and lightness as well as pastels tones, easy-living outfits and modern romantic lines." 

More styles as seen today at Printemps: 

CURRENT STYLES AT FAMOUS PARIS FLEA MARKET

The most famous flea market in Paris is the one at Porte de Clignancourt, officially called Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, but known to everyone as Les Puces (The Fleas). It covers seven hectares and is the largest antique market in the world, receiving between 120,000 to 180,000 visitors each weekend.
The weekend I had the privilege of visiting this "most famous flea market" in Paris and will share some of the styles I observed along the way.