An Elephant in Fontainebleau

Thanks to a French holiday tomorrow, I am currently in the middle of a lazy 4-day weekend. David had to work today, but almost enjoyed going into the office when less than half of his colleagues were there.

Yesterday we got up and decided we wanted to get out of Paris a bit. So we chose the Fontainebleau Château for our destination and hopped into the car after I'd finished with the Sunday market. We visited Fontainebleau last year when Kathryn came to visit, but we arrived late and didn't get to tour the interior of the château.

This year we were also a bit later than intended, but still had over an hour to visit. The thing is, since we arrived late, the staff put our audio guides on quick mode and half of the commentary was cut out. Well, we weren't that bent out of shape about it, and on double speed we had just enough time to see the whole thing.

I don't want to say "seen one French château, seen them all", it was really lovely and I'm glad we went. But a few years from now, my memory won't be able to distinguish between one lavish queen's chamber and another in Versailles, Chantilly, or Fontainebleau.

One unique thing about Fontainebleau, however, was an art exhibit that was on display throughout the château. I've heard of these exhibits in other châteaux around Paris - a clash of modern art and classic French history. We walked around one corner to find a stuffed cat hooked up to a helium tank and "floating" on a gilded ceiling, at the top of an elegant marble staircase. Bizarre.

At the entrance to the library we came up an enormous and oddly beautiful elephant balancing on its trunk. How completely...unexpected. But a refreshing twist on an otherwise unremarkable visit to another French château. We liked it.

Finally we finished the tour and left the building. We were about to start a walk around the grounds to catch the fall colors in the evening light, but we were soon shooed off the property for closing time. We walked around the site and passed though the town before hiking back to our car.

And thus concludes our second visit to Fontainebleau. The elephant definitely made it worth the trip.