Whenever people think of a château near Paris, they usually think of Versailles, not Fontainebleau which is a shame considering how beautiful it is. A couple of weekends ago it was a sunny day so me and a couple of friends decided to get on the train (along with a picnic in hand) and head south east of Paris to the cutest little town, Fontainebleau.




As you can imagine, the palace itself is very opulent and is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It was the residence of French monarchs from Louis VII (born 1120) all the way through to Napoleon III (born 1808) but nowadays it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a museum and has one of the most beautiful parks which is perfect for a picnic.

It was literally the most gorgeous day and we started our visit not by visiting the castle, but by setting up our lunch by the lake in the gardens. We had bought baguette (obviously), some cheese, madeleines, strawberries and olives as well as some other goodies and just spent a while basking in the sun, eating our weight in French carbs (no regrets).

After eating we had a stroll around the garden which was honestly beautiful, and then made our way into the château, which thankfully for us was free to visit, thank you French state.







Obviously it was stunning and very ornate, however I preferred Versailles and if you're choosing between the two I would say go to that one, that being said we had a lovely afternoon and it was all free as we had navigo passes which covered travel, and our EU residency paired with being under 25 got us free admission tickets - so definitely worth it.

The town itself is very quaint and picturesque so I would definitely recommend having a look around there before heading home. Fontainbleau is also famous for its forest which is 25,000 hectares! It has more than 1600km of routes and trails that you can discover either on foot, bike or horse. For more information about the forest, click here (including a list of riding clubs for pony treks).

Useful Information

Getting to Fontainebleau is quite easy from Paris, you simply take a train headed to either Montargis Sens, Montereau or Laroche-Migennes from Gare de Lyon and get off at Fontainebleau-Avon, then take the 'Ligne 1' bus in the Les Lilas direction, getting off at the Château stop - if you get lost just follow the tourists. 

The castle is open every day except Tuesdays and some public holidays (January 1st, May 1st and December 25th).
October to March it is open from 9:30 until 17:00
April to September it is open from 9:30 until 18:00
The courtyards and gardens are open every day from 9:00 until 17:00 (November to February), 18:00 (March, April and October), 19:00 (May to September).

Tickets were free for us as we are EU citizens under 25, however tickets are normally 11 euros so still not too expensive.

For more information on the château, please visit the website by clicking here.

Back in December I made the move to Paris for 6 months as part of my university degree.

I'm so lucky to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and although the first two months here had a lot of pretty awful, gloomy weather, it was still gorgeous.

Now that Spring is in full swing (24 degrees today - woohoo), here are some of the pictures that I've taken over the last 3 months...

... which are mostly classic tourist pictures including the Eiffel tower (sorry not sorry).

Finding accommodation in Paris is very, very difficult. Having lived here for a while now and found not one, but two places to live I would thoroughly recommend the following if you're looking for a place in the city, whether it be a room in a flat or a studio.

Tips on Finding Accommodation

Do your research

• If you have never been to Paris before or haven't done your research, you will need to so that you don't end up living in a dodgy area due to an attractive asking price. Whenever I found a flat that I liked I sent the location to one of my Parisian friends to ask about the area just to make sure. Only live somewhere where you will feel safe. 
• Work out where your work/university is and see which metro lines your flat has to be near, unless it's in walking distance of course! In Paris the metro can take a long time and although something may look near on the map it can take a long time to get there if there isn't a direct metro. Check this on Google Maps or on an app like City Mapper before you choose a place.

Where to Find a Flat 

Appartager

For flat sharing - I actually found my flat through here and I ended up in a super cute apartment (the one in these photos), for a reasonable price with the nicest flatmate. Unfortunately to reply to some ads you have to pay a fee (around 30 euros, depending on how long you want the description for), and a lot of the flats aren't that nice but it's worth it. I found both my flat in Florence and my flat in Paris on this website - it exists for loads of countries so even if you're not looking in France you may be able to use it, just scroll down and change the country.
Site: http://www.appartager.com/

La Carte des Colocs

Also for flat sharing - You will have to make an account, and message a lot of people in order to get a response, but at least it's 100% free!
Site: https://www.lacartedescolocs.fr/accueil

Paris Attitude

It's generally a little more expensive and you'll have to pay agency fees but they have some pretty beautiful flats and I know a couple of people who have used it and are happy.
Site: http://www.parisattitude.com/

The American Church of Paris

This sounds really random but it's a known place to find rooms or flats in the city. There's a little noticeboard and you'll have to call or email the owners for more information, but generally the flats are very nice and very reasonably priced - my friend got a studio in the 7th arrondissement (a very posh area, close to the Musée d'Orsay) for 650 euros!
Location: 65 Quai d'Orsay, 75007 Paris

Ask Around

If you're like me and a student on their year abroad, I would highly recommend getting in touch with those in the year above you to see if you can take over their flats once they leave. One of my friends did this and she found the cutest studio in Montmartre which was relatively well priced. It may seem like an effort but you never know what you may find - plus at least you'll know that it's 100% reliable!

Facebook Groups

As with most things, you'll have to be careful that you don't get lured into a scam (as with anything online), but Facebook is a great way for people to find roommates etc.

The following are pretty useful:

Colocation Paris: https://www.facebook.com/ColocationParis/?fref=ts
Colocation Paris: https://www.facebook.com/Colocation-Paris-200189713359265/?fref=ts
PARIS: Location appartement, Colocation, Sous-location: https://www.facebook.com/groups/334192306773040/
Colocation à Paris: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Colocation.in.Paris/
Paris : location d'appart, échange, colocation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/colocationparis/
Plan Appart Paris : Location appartement, Colocation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/planappart/
Plan Coloc Paris : Colocation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/plancoloc/

Erasmus groups and expat groups are useful too - just search for them and a bunch will come up.

Airbnb

This is probably less of a popular choice due to the price, however sometimes people advertise their flats on there for short periods of time (aka 6 months) for them to be sublet - if you're desperate you can always rent one for a couple of weeks for when you get settled in so that you can property hunt once you've arrived.
Site: https://www.airbnb.com/

Most importantly don't give up, new flats and rooms come online every day so keep persevering and you'll find something. Good luck!