Yesterday was castle day! We saw Fontainbleau, in which the French royalty resided for many years, and Vaux-le-Vicomte, which is a private residence with a fun story.
Ok. Fontainbleau. Huge- royal- but all day there were these field trips of french and british 4th or 5th graders. 
The rooms are all decorated differently, depending in which reign they were done. Some are classical, some renaissance. Tapestries are common, and incredible, considering they w
ere all hand stiched! The walls are all painted and unbelievable, sculptures in wood and in stone, and carpets that are unbelievable.
ere all hand stiched! The walls are all painted and unbelievable, sculptures in wood and in stone, and carpets that are unbelievable. Blah blah blah. The important thing to remember if you ever see this place is to bring a loaf of bread, because there are swans in the ponds in the garden. And they are not shy!!
Then Vaux-le-Vicomte.
This house was built by a man named Fouquet. He was the financial advisor to Louis XIV, and if you're at all familiar with this period in history, there was a lot of money flying around France at this point. So he had access to the royal treasury, and built himself a house. Sneaky huh? But then, to celebrate, he invites the king and queen to stay with him for a weekend. Now I don't see how he could possibly thought he could get away with this. This is not swiping a buck off someones dresser to buy a soda. Anyway the queen is furious, but the king tells her to chill out and have a good time for a few days, and the next week when they return home, Fouquet is immediately arrested, tried, and eventually exhiled.
This place also has some association with the legend of the Man in the Iron Mask, and much of the LeoD movie was filmed here.
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