I have been back from my three-week trip to Paris for just over a week. I have hesitated posting as -I don’t know where to start, am quite unwell and really wont be able to reciprocate comments. So, feel free to fave and move on.

I had the most magical time, despite many struggles it was worth every second. I look back now and don’t know how I did it. Well I do really. Well planned and supported by my friends’ Brad and Michelle who had it worked out so that I had every chance of succeeding. Wheelchair assistance at the airport was invaluable and most of my activities needed to be outside which was pretty easy despite the rain most days. But that is what I enjoyed most -looking at the narrow, cobblestone streets and the amazing architecture, so different from anything we are familiar with in the relatively recently colonised Australia! Unfortunately, we all got Covid in the second week and that was brutal.


This image is of Château de Fontainebleau one of the largest Palaces in France first built in the twelfth century as a hunting lodge. From the humble beginnings it became a favourite dwelling of King Henri II, King Henri IV and Napoleon Bonaparte. It was extremely grand and opulent inside but way too much overstimulation for my brain. However, the grounds were amazing and you could get lost wondering amongst the cultured gardens and forests.

I hope everyone is well. If anyone has any news they'd like to share, please feel free to message me so I don't miss out on anything x

Tags:   France Paris 2023 Chateau de Fontainebleau castle Medieval Nikon Z6ii

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The grand front entrance of Chateau de Fontainebleau.

Perhaps if you look closely you can see the shadows of Napoleon and Josephine in the upstairs windows.

It seems that while their love was tumultuous and they both had affairs with their marriage ending in divorce, when Napoleon died in his last exile, his last words are reputed to have been, “France, the army, head of the army, Joséphine.”

“Every moment separates me further from you, my beloved, and every moment I have less energy to exist so far from you. You are the constant object of my thoughts.”

Tags:   Chateau de Fontainebleau france castle medievil Palace Nikon Z6ii travel

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The residence of 34 kings and two emperors, Fontainebleau is the only château that was lived in by every French monarch for more than eight centuries.

A few more images of the palace before I move on. This was one of the few days with sun and some blue skies on the trip.

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Fontainebleau was chosen for its vast swathes of forest and abundant game. The hunt was a ritual, a sign of power and rank (in reality a sign of small minded men with small........).

In the 12th century, even though bears and wild boar were still the traditional game of the princely hunts, deer, endowed by the Church with a Christic symbolism, began to become the royal game par excellence.

I did keep a look out for deer as that would have been the pièce de résistance but alas all I saw was joggers and bike riders.

Autumn had graced the grounds of Fontainbleau but I had fun enhancing this image to give it a an extreme autumnal glow in line with the "beer' Forest.

I don't know where the term beer forest came from and couldn't find its origin. Maybe it was their drink of preference for celebrating their kill.

Tags:   forest Autumn colour trees france Fontainebleau

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This is a zoomed in view from my bedroom on the fourth floor of the apartment I stayed in at Monceau, Paris. The lovely aspect of this area was that it is a neighborhood of Paris and was not touristy at all so mostly locals around.

And the latest Miss eye-roller news- she just arrived in Chongquing, China for two weeks which she chose to do as part of her Uni course. A culture shock I imagine. She knows no Chinese at all and had to sit an exam before she left and it was all written in Chinese (just like those nightmares most of us have) so ........ eenie meenie miney moe to pick the answers!

Tags:   Paris roof chimney slate roof window Monceau

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