Fontainebleau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Commune of Fontainebleau | |
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| Château de Fontainebleau in the town center | |
| Location | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Seine-et-Marne (sous-préfecture) |
| Arrondissement | Fontainebleau |
| Canton | Fontainebleau (chief town) |
| Intercommunality | Communauté de communes de l'agglomération Fontainebleau-Avon |
| Mayor | Frédéric Valletoux (2005-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Land area¹ | 172.05 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
15,942 |
| - Density (1999) | 93/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 77186/ 77300 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located 55.5 km. (34.5 miles) south-southeast from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Fontainebleau is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-et-Marne département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Fontainebleau.
Fontainebleau, together with the neighboring commune of Avon and three other smaller communes, form an urban area of 36,713 inhabitants (1999 census). This urban area is a satellite city of Paris.
Fontainebleau is renowned for its large and scenic Forest of Fontainebleau, a favorite weekend getaway for Parisians, as well as for the historical Château de Fontainebleau of the kings of France and INSEAD, one of the world's most elite business schools.
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[edit] History
During the French Revolution, Fontainebleau was temporarily renamed Fontaine-la-Montagne, meaning "Fountain by the Mountain" (the mountain referred to is the series of rocky formations located in the Forest of Fontainebleau).
During the 1950s and 1960s Fontainebleau was home to the HQ Allied Airforces Central Europe (HQ AAFCE) before being moved to AFB Ramstein in Germany after President de Gaulle decided that he no longer needed NATO atomic weapons on French soil as France had now established its own nuclear arsenal.
[edit] Tourism
Fontainebleau is a popular tourist destination: 300,000 people visit the palace and about 11 million people visit the forest.
[edit] Fontainebleau forest
The forest of Fontainebleau surrounds the city and dozens of villages. It is protected by France's Office National des Forêts and is recognised as a national park that is managed partly to conserve its wild plants and trees (such as the Service Tree of Fontainebleau) and its valuable population of birds, mammals and butterflies. It is a former royal hunting park often visited by walkers and horse riders. The forest is also well regarded for bouldering, and is particularly popular amongst climbers.
Legend says that it was given to Robin Hood by Richard The Lionheart.
[edit] Royal Château de Fontainebleau
The Royal Château de Fontainebleau is a large castle where the Renaissance was introduced to France from 1528 onwards.
[edit] Other notable places
- The European (and historical) campus of INSEAD business school, and research laboratories from the École des Mines de Paris are located in Fontainebleau.
- The graves of G. I. Gurdjieff and Katherine Mansfield can be found in the cemetery at Avon.
[edit] Transport
Fontainebleau is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Lyon suburban rail line: Fontainebleau – Avon and Thomery. Fontainebleau – Avon station, the closest station to the town center of Fontainebleau, is located at the border between the commune of Fontainebleau and the commune of Avon, on the Avon side of the border.
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] English Speaking Expatriates
Banlieue towns of the Île de France tend to depend a lot on Paris for administration purposes and other facilities. The centre of Paris is also a haven for several English speaking nationalities and EU expatriates, however in outlying towns such as this one there isn't the network that caters for these groups.
Generally, via the internet, a look on services such as Yahoo Groups can yield a few useful resources with expat groups such as Live in France, English Speakers in France, Paris Sud or Webvivant. All of these can provide much needed advice and friendship to English speaking residents of the Île de France.
[edit] See also
- Château de Fontainebleau
- Edict of Fontainebleau (October 1685)
- List of climbing areas
- Milly-la-Forêt
[edit] External links
