Fontainbleu

7.9.11
As I sit in the forest outside of Orleans typing this, we have just finished our second dinner in the campervan -ravioli and veg. After dinner we have 'petit pain grilles' with camembert and seedless black grapes along with a glass of Bordeaux in our new glasses bought at Palace of Fontainbleu today.
And I have just wished Bill a happy birthday (60th), as I realise that in Australia it is the 8th!
What a perfect place to spend the night - we are alone here in a picnic ground in the forest, with a small lake nearby. Medieval music I bought at Oxford is playing and otherwise the sound of a gas fun in the distance reminds us of Wamuran!
Today we left Millie le Foret after an early supermarket shop. Conveniently, it opened at 8.30am while most tourist spots and shops don't open until 10am. This meant that by the time we drove to nearby Fontainbleu, we were still quite early.
Parked the van outside town (about 1.3km) near the cemetary and walked in. This took us past a couple of schools and down wonderful little lanes, lined with shops - to be returned to later!
Palace of Fontainblue was absolutely awesome. To think that so many decisions effective world history were made here by Napolean and many others was quite amazing. Beautifully maintained, with furnishings and fittings from original times, this visit was a real highlight.
Wandering through the town centre to do a few necessary chores (buy a new bag because my handbag has given up and re-charge the phonecard, which I allowed to run out of credit so had to buy a new one) we came across a small dress shop closing today, so 50% off. For 25 Euros I bought 3 tops!
Back on the road, heading for Orleans via back roads we passed large expanses of farmland, which looks so fertile with vegetables of all kinds thriving. Small villages house the owners/workers. None of the farms have houses or domestic quarters. It appears that machinery and equipment is shared.