Fontainebleau this morning and Versalles this afternoon and that about wraps it up for Paris chateau. What a contrast. I was in the first batch of visitors at Fontainebleau including a group of French school teenagers and then this afternoon humanity decended on Versailles. From a gentle stroll around a great chateau to an overhyped world renowned site the pleasure and the pain. Fontainebleau is actually still configured as a royal residence and also housed an exhibition dedicated to Napoleon I. Versailles is essentailly an art gallery with a couple of  ‘amazing’ room including the hall of mirrors. Versailles gets full marks for the gardens though. There is a bit of a price difference too. Fontainebleau €14 plus €5 to park, Versailles €32 plus €18 to park. Don’t get the wrong impression. I enjoyed both sites but Fontainebleau suited my disposition better. The headline shot is of the world-famous Hall of Mirrors, which is impressive, but i’ll start with Fontainebleau below. I have just picked a few samples to give a sense of place as will be the case for Versailles. The gardens at Versailles are a joy with room to breath. Notably the larrge tour groups did not seem to venture beyond the immediatete parcours. On the other hand in the chateau the large tour groups hit you in waves. This is the reality of mass tourism which includes me, of course in its numbers. I should note that I had no choice in timing. I booked on line for both and were given only one time option for each. In fact that itself worked as I was stayng in Fontainebleau last night and in Versailles tonight and tomorrow.