FRENCH LANGUAGE
The Château de Fontainebleau, where the spirit of seven centuries of practically uninterrupted occupation still lurks, still bears the mark, if not the taste, of the last couple of sovereigns to have occupied the place: Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.
oday's visitor will be...
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FRENCH LANGUAGE
The Château de Fontainebleau, where the spirit of seven centuries of practically uninterrupted occupation still lurks, still bears the mark, if not the taste, of the last couple of sovereigns to have occupied the place: Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.
oday's visitor will be surprised to find, between the powerful memories of François I and Napoleon, a particularly present Second Empire, a distant echo of brilliant and often summery stays which, without having the fame of the famous "series" of Compiègne, nevertheless held a very special place in the eyes of these august visitors.
The opportunity is therefore ripe to immerse oneself in this period of some twenty years, when the castle and the town lived in unison with the travels of Their Majesties, who came to spend a few weeks, if not a few months, in a residence which at the time had the sweet smell of a holiday resort.
Through numerous, often modern, sometimes surprising arrangements, the imperial guests will, in an apparently relaxed manner, meditate with respect on the works of their predecessors, while in their turn writing a new chapter in the very long history of the "house of the centuries".
Between a state palace and a holiday castle, the Fontainebleau of Napoleon III is revealed as an essential and little-known place of the Second Empire, a guardian of history and stories that are only waiting to be rediscovered.
French language
288 pages / 229 illustrations
Éditions Le Charmoiset
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