Monday September 8, 1930

After breakfast, Josephine and the other pilgrims prepared for a day trip to Fontainebleau via Barbizon. The bus left around 10 am. It took about 2½ hours by bus to get to Fontainebleau.

Barbizon is a picturesque village that was, next to Fontainebleau, the chief summer resort in the forest and was a fashionable place of residence for painters. They crossed the Forest de Fontainebleau, with trees of oak, beech, birch, holly, and juniper. The bus soon got to the town of Fontainebleau, which had 16,000 inhabitants in 1930. They drove to the Restaurant Legris, where they stopped for a noon lunch.

After lunch, the bus traveled to Place Solferino. A huge gilded iron gate opened into the main entrance of Fontainebleau.

Fontainebleau is a massive chateau outside of Paris. (1) Fontainebleau is like a secret garden. There is a regular street with traffic going right by it, but once you pass through its gates the traffic fades away and you are transported into another time, when gardens were works of art and everyone’s favorite color was gold.

A number of French kings were born or died at Fontainebleau. There is much history associated with Fontainebleau, but the chief association of the palace is with Napoleon I, who spent more than $2 million on its restoration.

The pilgrims spent two hours at Fontainebleau. There was a lot to be seen in that period of time.

The pilgrims were informed of the highlights of the many rooms they would visit (they stayed together as a group). The first part of the visit was the chateau. The chateau is filled with decorations, furniture, and tapestries from France’s history. The palace is composed of many distinct buildings, erected at various times. In 1930, the summer school of the American Conservatory of Music and the American school of Fine Arts occupied part of the palace from June to September.

Walking through the various rooms of the castle, the pilgrims were surrounded by many works of art (all explained in the detailed typed itinerary the pilgrims received for their visit to Fontainebleau).

The itinerary that the pilgrims received noted a place in the tour where if any pilgrim felt tired, she could sit and wait until the group returned. Or the pilgrims could go out through the horseshoe staircase and wait outside in the Court of the Fountains.

Exiting the chateau, the pilgrims enjoyed, among many other sights, the Grande Parterre – in 1930, it was the largest formal garden in France and the Jardin Anglais containing rare plants and trees (including the rare spruce, Japanese sophora, Virginia tulip trees, and Louisiana cypress trees).

The pilgrims departed Fontainebleau around 4 pm. It took them over 2 hours to return to Paris.

After dinner at the hotel, Josephine and her companions were tired and ready for bed and a good night’s rest. Tomorrow would be their last day in Paris.




Source: written by Carolyn Ourso