We spent a rainy day visiting the Château de Fontainebleau, which is less than an hour from Paris by train. The train station is about 2 kilometers (0.6 mile) away from Fontainebleau but there is a convenient bus that you can take to the château. We were amused by how not only the bus driver, but also several locals on the bus, all shouted "Castle!" when we reached the appropriate stop. Everything about the bus signage was extremely user-friendly but they must be used to confused tourists in that town.
We had initially discussed going back to the Château de Versailles and bringing a picnic to enjoy in the gardens, skipping the palace itself to avoid the crowds, but thought it might be fun to visit another nearby château instead. We were delighted to find Fontainebleau so uncrowded that we could take our time with the audio tour and have many rooms all to ourselves. It was much more fun to enjoy the grandeur of the former royal chambers without having to squeeze by tons of people.
Crowded Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
Peaceful Gallery of Francis I at Fontainebleau
A few more pictures of the interior of Fontainebleau:
And a few of the grounds of Fontainebleau:
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