Experience the best of Fontainebleau

The Château de Fontainebleau, a UNESCO site, was a residence of French rulers from the twelfth century to the nineteenth. Francis I turned it into a Renaissance palace, and his gallery, decorated by Italian artists, set a style that spread across France. In April 1814 Napoleon said farewell to his guard from the horseshoe staircase in the Cour du Cheval-Blanc before leaving for exile on Elba.

The Forest of Fontainebleau, covering more than 20,000 hectares, is a landscape of oak and pine among giant sandstone boulders, much loved by walkers and climbers. Barbizon, on the forest's edge, was home to the painters Millet and Rousseau, and Moret-sur-Loing, painted again and again by Alfred Sisley, lies to the east. Vaux-le-Vicomte, a grand château, is a short drive north.

Brie from Melun and Meaux is the cheese of the district, and Fontainebleau, a whipped fresh-cheese dessert served with cream, takes the town's name. Chasselas grapes were once grown on stone walls at nearby Thomery. Autumn turns the forest bronze and gold.