On October 15th we ventured outside of Paris by bus to the châteaux of Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte. It was our last CUPA excursion organized by CUPA, and I commemorated it for posterity by taking far too many pictures.
But the thing about historic châteaux is that when they're filled with ogling tourists, the rooms - grand as they may be - actually feel quite small. Sometimes the only thing you can get a good picture of is the highly ornate ceilings.
Here are the highlights from Fontainebleau...
(The king of France meant for the ceiling of this chapel to rival that of the Sistine. I've never been there, but what do you think?)
We dined in the town of Fontainebleau, then headed back to the bus for Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Vaux-le-Vicomte inspired such a jealousy in King Louis XIV that it prompted him to build Versailles! Unfortunately, our time there was cut a bit short, but here's what I managed to snap of the ceilings...
But my favorite part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually the gardens. I had a sudden urge to run and frolic with Beethoven's 6th symphony playing in the background, as if I were some pastel creature from Disney's "Fantasia." But French people don't really frolic, so I contained myself.
Although, when I saw these stone tigers, I just couldn't resist a pose in honor of my dear
Old Nassau!
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