A couple of weeks ago we went on a randonnée (hike) in the Fontainebleau Forest, about an hour south of Paris. It's a former Royal Chateau and extensive (around 50,000 acres) hunting grounds, famous for the visits of lots of painters and for hosting some of the first designated and marked nature trails in the world. 
These were routed by Claude-Francois Denecourt in the mid-1800s, and we walked on parts of them during our hike. The part of the park we visited was within the world's first dedicated nature preserve, set by Emperor Napoleon III in 1861. You can see an exhibition of Fontainebleau plein-air painting from the 1800s at the National Gallery in DC for a couple more weeks.Assuming these photos aren't enough for you ...
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Is this park named after Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville and Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville ... The French really should try to come up with a more origonal name.
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