Vaux le Vicomte - gardens

After touring the chateau we wandered through the gardens. There was great variety of styles including some extremely patterned gardens, multiple pools with fountains (mostly not operational at the time), statuary, and groves of carefully parallel rows of trees. I read in Wikipedia that as many as 16,000 people were employed to build the gardens.

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Château of Fontainebleau

After Vaux le Vicomte it was on to Fontainebleau. This château has over 1500 rooms and 130 acres of parkland. Napoleon supposedly said "The true home of kings, the house of ages". It had almost eight centuries of Royal occupation. It has museums, galleries, apartments, theaters, and chapels. It makes its namesake in Miami seem pretty dull (although it too has 1500 rooms).

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The gardens at Fontainebleau

After going through the house we meandered through some of the gardens. There were lots of large reflecting pools, statues, plantings, and various nearby buildings. Quite a spectacular place.

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