the Place du Cheval-Blanc. In the center of the Jardin Anglais (entered
through the Cour de la Fontaine) was the Fontaine Bleau, which is supposed
by some to have given a name to the palace. The Etang has a pavilion in
the center, where the Czar Peter got drunk. The carp in the pool, overfed
with bread by visitors, are said to be, some of them, of immense age. John
Evelyn mentions the carp of Fontainebleau, "that come familiarly to hand."
The Jardin de l' Orangerie, on the north of the palace, called Jardin des
Buis under Francois I., contains a good renaissance portal. To the east of
the parterre and the town is the park, which has no beauty, but harmonizes
well with the chateau.

Visitors should not fail to drive in the Forest, 80 kilometers in circuit,
and, if they return late, may look out for its black huntsman--"le grand
veneur." ... The forest was a favorite hunting-ground of the kings of
France to a late period. It was here that the Marquis de Tourzel, Grand
Provost of France, husband of the governess of the royal children,
fractured his skull, his horse bolting against a tree, when hunting with
Louis XVI., in November, 1786. The forest is the especial land of French
artists, who overrun and possess it in the summer. There are innumerable
direction-posts, in which all the red marks--put up by Napoleon III.,
because so few peasants could read--point to town.





St. Denis

By Grant Allen