Fontainebleau_side_trips_from_Paris_by_bicycleIntroduction:

Fontainebleau is situated southwest of Paris in the department of Ile-de-France and is home to the Palace of Fontainebleau, a medieval castle that was later turned into a lavish royal palace. It was used as a residence by French monarchs from Louis VII through Napoleon III. Napoleon I made his throne here before being exiled. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a national museum. Next to Fontainebleau is a boulder filled forest located in the Forêt Domaniale (National Forest) de Fontainebleau. This is a cycling wonderland with paved forest roads closed to automobile traffic.

Using Mike’s GPS watch we programed a course in the environs of Fontainebleau on the many traffic-free forest roads . One unusual find was a modern art cyclops we encountered along the way – a rather interesting looking piece of modern art in the middle of the forest. Just like in a fairy tale with a giant ogre, what else would you expect to find in the enchanted forest of Fontainebleau?

Ride Information:

  • Distance & Terrain: 65k (40 miles) – some hills but nothing major and all on paved roads.
  • Train Station from Paris: Gare de Bercy for the regional rail (TER) train.  The suburban rail (RER) line D is another option, with multiple stops within Paris)
  • Where to rent bikes:

Route and GPX file for this ride:

Find more Bike Rides in Fontainebleau, France (Other Organized Events):

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There are a couple of Mountain Biking (VTT) Events:

  • 2015 –Verte Tout-Terrain La Fontainebelleau
    • Website : http://www.bgc77.org/
    • Routes vary from easy to difficult with distances from 20k to 60k
    • Cost is: 2 euro plus cost of a license fee
  • 2015 – RANDONNEE DU MASSIF FORESTIER DE FONTAINEBLEAU
    • Website : http://www.dammariecyclo.fr/
    • Routes are 30 to 50 km and depart from the train station in the town of Melun (where the RER D suburban train line stops)

Free Audio Guides of Destinations in France and Fontainbleau by ZeVisit:

ZeVisit is a website with free narrative audio guides that you can download to an mp3 player or mobile phone and play them while you visit. They can be a nice change of pace to reading a tourist guide book and looking like a tourist. http://www.zevisit.com/langue/US?redirect=/tourisme/fontainebleau

Official Tourism site of Fontainebleau:

http://www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/index.php/en/discover/by-the-forest.html

The Ride Description From Our Blog (June 21, 2009):

Fontainbleau is one of my best hidden secrets in France to ride a bike. It is only an hour and half train ride away from Paris and there is a royal château and forest with closed paved roads to make for some beautiful cycling with NO TRAFFIC!

Taking the trains in France can be daunting – so please read my quick guide about cycling in France to master the art of taking your bicycle on the train. Always make sure to validate your ticket and only take your bike on the marked bike car when there is one. This avoids angry conductors that give tickets. Even with mistakes and tourists they still like to give penalties for not validating tickets.

We used to live in Paris’ 12th arrondissement and so the train station to get to Fontainbleau was a short 15 minute bicycle ride from our apartment. We cycled to the Gare de Bercy train station that has one of the most beautiful clocks. It is also close to the Promenade Plantée, an old rail viaduct that has been converted into a beautiful walking trail  and is one of my favorite places in the city.

Our ride through Fontainebleau starts in the boulder-filled forest (the Palace of Fontainebleau is at the finish line).  Fontainebleau is well-known for the huge scenic forest of Fontainebleau, also known as a favorite weekend getaway for Parisians. It is still in Ile-de-France, the department that surrounds Paris but it is just far enough away from the city to feel like a getaway. According to Wikipedia, more people visit the forest than the castle.

Bicycle in Fontainbleau

The forest of Fontainebleau is surrounded by the town of Fontainebleau and dozens of nearby villages. It is protected by France’s Office National des Forêts. Once a former royal hunting park, it is now a playground for rock climbers and is also often visited by hikers and horse riders. The forest is also known for bouldering and has climbs for all levels that are marked out.  It is known as one of the biggest developed area of that kind in the world. Here is a brochure with all the rocks and boulders to climb in the forest: http://www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/images/fontainebleau-tourisme/pdf/Foret/brochure%20escalade.pdf

For bicyclists, there are many options. There are paved forest roads that are great for road or hybrid bikes. The roads are old and have not been paved in a while so they are a little bumpy but still wonderful because there is no traffic. There are also trails for mountain bikes. We were on our road bikes so we enjoyed the bumpy roads on carbon fiber and aluminum frames. The forest is mostly pine trees with large boulders.

The forest roads would eventually go through little villages that looked as if they were still in the Middle Ages. Then we would pop back into the woods. Eventually we made our way to the first destination. A modern art Cyclops!

A description of the Modern Art Cyclops:

Seventy-four feet high, and 350 tons of steel! The huge body-less Head, glittering with mirrors, with a single eye, a mouth from which water trickles onto a toboggan tongue, and an ear weighing a ton, houses in its midst a surprising world where spectators are invited to follow a maze-like itinerary to discover varied and complementary works, acoustic sculptures, a small automatic theatre and, where the brain would be, some tremendous machinery with scrap-iron gears, as intriguing as they are eclectic.

This extremely rich opus encompasses four art movements: Dada, Nouveau Réalisme (new realism), Kinetic Art and Art brut. Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s Le Cyclop, also known as “The Head” or “The Monster in the Forest”, is a unique monument in the history of contemporary art. With Le Cyclop, Jean Tinguely wanted to create a non-standard construction, exceptional in size, artistic complexity and technical ingeniousness, as well as being unusually sited in the Forest of Milly.

But “The Head” is, above all else, the outcome of a collective venture, forged from bonds of friendship, a utopia produced over many years by a “team of crazy sculptors” gathered about the personality of Jean Tinguely.

By working in the forest, we dream of a utopia and a boundless action (I know it’s illusory) and our attitude is that of a Quest for the Gratuitous and Useless Act. And we’re very happy with that, as long as nobody stops us working (like crazies—it goes without saying). Jean Tinguely

In 1969, the Cyclop project got under way in the Forest of Milly. Jean Tinguely knew that to complete his Head project, the only way was to finance the works himself; that way, he could be free to work as he wished. No architect would be involved in the construction and the artists alone gradually built this sculpture, with Herculean courage, strength and tenaciousness.

It took ten years of labour to erect Le Cyclop, and fifteen more years before everyone’s contributions were installed. Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle funded the project together. In 1987, to guarantee its protection and preservation, they decided to donate Le Cyclop to the French state.

In 1991, when Jean Tinguely died, Niki de Saint Phalle took it upon herself to complete the sculpture by paying for the final works, fully respecting her partner’s ideas.

In May 1994, Le Cyclop was inaugurated by François Mitterrand, President of the Republic, and opened to the public. Niki de Saint Phalle then decided that Le Cyclop was finished and that no work could be added to it from then on. –  http://www.lecyclop.com/Le-Cyclop-Cyclop

Veni Vidi Velo Crazy Adventures by bicycle

Yes that is its tongue! And it has water flowing down.

After the weird Cyclops encounter, we got back on our bikes and headed to Fontainebleau.  Because we were running low on time, we did not visit the palace on this trip (but we did go later with visiting friends).  We wanted to get back to Paris to experience La Fête de la Music that evening in Paris.  Every June 21st the French celebrate the longest day of the year by having open air concerts all around town.

Palace of Fontainebleau – The castle, while not as popular as the Palace of Versailles, it is still worth a trip! According to the website:

“With over 1500 rooms at the heart of 130 acres of parkland and gardens, Fontainebleau is the only royal and imperial château to have been continuously inhabited for seven centuries. A visit to Fontainebleau opens up an unparalleled view of French history, art history and architecture.” http://www.chateaudefontainebleau.fr/spip.php?page=sommaire&lang=en

Napoleon Bonaparte once called this his residence but …

“On 20 April 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, shortly before his first abdication, bid farewell to the Old Guard, the renowned grognards (gripers) who had served with him since his very first campaigns, in the “White Horse Courtyard” (la cour du Cheval Blanc) at the Palace of Fontainebleau. (The courtyard has since been renamed the “Courtyard of Goodbyes”.) According to contemporary sources, the occasion was very moving. The 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau stripped Napoleon of his powers (but not his title as Emperor of the French) and sent him into exile on Elba.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

A great side trip from Paris, Fontainebleau makes for a great adventure by bicycle!  We hope you enjoyed our post.

Fontainebleau, France

 

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