Fontainebleau is a small village just south of Paris, surrounded by forests. Its a great place to get some fresh air and get out of the chaos Paris usually represents. Furthermore this is an excellent base of operations if youre seeking tranquility and culture more than the fast life in a megalopolis.

Fontainebleau is often called the capital of French history or as Napoleon III described: "Here is the true residence of kings, the house of the centuries. Fontainebleau can claim with this title for, there is no other castle in France, which can praise itself to having accommodated 34 sovereigns from Louis VI to Napoleon III. All these French sovereigns came in Fontainebleau in autumn, which was the hunting season and the regular appointment of the Court. The large forests around the castle were excellent hunting grounds and are still very beautiful when all red and yellow in an autumn sunset.

The name of Fontainebleau is always been connected to hunts. According to legend "la Fontaine-Belle-Eau" or "the Fountain-Bliaut" would be the name a dog owner gave to fountain in a clearing in the heart of the forest, he discovered during a hunt. It is close to this clearing, that a first hunting manor was built around 1247.

The main attraction of the small village of Fontainebleau is its 16th century castle which is actually the first renaissance building outside Italy. It has an impressive staircase and a delicate gallery with stucco ornaments and a huge formal garden. To know all about the castle, you can visit http://www.chateaudefontainebleau.net

The forests around the village are beautiful, especially in autumn, the traditional hunting season. The area is also well known for the boulders that lay scattered around. They yearly attract thousands of sport climbers. Also the adjacent Seine river is a good alternative for the over crowded Loire river if youre into canoeing.

Aix-en-provence
Ajaccio
Alp dHuez
Amboise
Angers
Annecy
Annot
Antibes
Arles
Arras
Avignon
Azay-le-Rideau
Bar-le-Duc
Bastia
Baume-les-Messieurs and Cirque
Bayeux
Bayonne
Berck sur Mer
Bergerac
Biarritz
Blois
Bordeaux
Boulogne
Bourges
Bracieux
Brienne-le-Chateau
Caen
Calvi
Cannes
Carcassone
Carnac
Ceillac
Chalons-sur-Marne
Chambord
Chamonix
Charlesville-Meziers
Chartres
Chartreuse
Chateau de Val
Chaumont
Chenonceau
Cheverny
Chinon
Cirque des Navacelles
Clairvaux
Clermont-Ferrand
Cognac
Colmar
Cons-la-Grandville
Corse
Courthezon
Deauville
Dieppe
Dijon
Dinan
Disneyland Paris
Domme
Dunkerque
Entraygues-sur-Truyère
Epernay
Etretat
Fabulous rivers
Fleville
Fontainebleau
Fontevraud
Fraisse-sur-Agout
Giverny
Gorges-du-tarn
Grenoble
Guilvinec
Hattonchatel
Hautvillers
Honfleur
Huelgoat
Ile dOleron
L'Isle sur la Sorgue
La Rochelle
La Roque Gageac
Langeais
Laval
Le Blanc
Le havre
Le mans
Le Sidobre
Les Andelys
Les Beaux de Provence
Lille
Lisieux
Loches
Lormes
Loue valley
Lourdes
Lyon
Mailly-le-Chateau
Marseille
Menton
Mesnil-Val
Metz
Meung sur Loire
Mirande
Mont Aigoual
Mont-saint-michel
Montpellier
Montpoupon
Montréal
Monts de l'Espinouse
Morbihan
Morvan
Nancy
Nantes
Nice
Nimes
Olhain
Orange
Orleans
Paris
Perigueux
Perpignan
Pezenas
Pic Carlit
Pontgibaud
Provins
Queyras
Quimper
Reims
Rennes
Rochebrune
Roscoff
Rouen
Roussillon
Saint Malo
Saint Remy de Provence
Sainte Croix en Jarez
Salers
Sarlat
Saumur
Sedan
Sixt Fer-à-Cheval
St livrade
St Pons de Thomière
St Tropez
St-Benoit-sur-Loire
St. Aignan
St. Etienne
St. Omer
St.Jean de Luz
Strasbourg
Tarascon-sur-Ariège
Toulouse
Tours
Train des Pignes
Trouville
Troyes
Usse
Uzes
Valencay
Valence
Vannes
Verdun
Vernet les Bains
Versailles
Vezelay
Villandry
Villeneuve-Loubet
Villerville