On the way to Amboise, we found a castle

 
I love Paris, but the by Thursday, I was craving some countryside. Luckily, the beautiful French countryside is just a short train ride from Paris. After browsing google images of nearby towns, we decided that Amboise would be a nice destination. By this point, we had become a bit over confident in our travel abilities, and we flew a little too close to the sun on this one. For some reason, in the midst all those image searches, we never thought to buy our train tickets, much less figure out which station we needed to leave from. By the time we figured out which station we needed to go to, we had missed the train to Amboise. We were still determined to see some countryside though, so we scrolled through the train schedules until I found something familiar. Fontainebleau. I remembered reading something about it. A few clicks and credit card swipes later, we were off. And we didn't have a clue what to do once we got there.

A guest bedroom.

The library. Probably my favorite part of the castle.

The last original throne room in all of France!

When we arrived in Fontainebleau we followed some a group of tourists on a bus whose destination read “Castello.” I promise it wasn't as sketchy as it sounds. Sure enough, there was a beautiful castle just waiting to be explored. Unlike Versailles, there were few tourists on the castle grounds. I enjoyed getting the chance to wander through the house and take pictures to my heart's content. 

A television shooting. Apparently the grounds of Fontainebleau are the set for a popular French show.

We later learned that Fontainebleau is a major destination for serious boulderers. This is because the the castle is surrounded by the king's former hunting grounds. Oak groves and flower gardens stretched as far as the eyes could see. It was a beautiful way to spend a day with good friends!