Fontainebleau-Avon: station history
Served by: Transilien R.
Did you know?
A Seine-et-Marne station, at Avon, on the Paris-Lyon to Marseille-Saint-Charles line, at kilometre point 58.941 and an altitude of 77 metres, between Fontainebleau-Forêt and Thomery. Its station building is the work of François-Alexis Cendrier, architect of several PLM stations. It is served by Transilien line R and by TER trains.
Anecdote
In 1866 a single fare from Paris to Fontainebleau-Avon cost 6.60 F in first class, 4.95 F in second and 3.65 F in third. In 1937 the PLM renovated the station: the decoration was toned down, plaster renders were replaced with lime and cement, and the asphalt floor with stoneware tiles. A « Yonne-Méditerranée » TGV stopped there from July 2009 to December 2011, before being withdrawn for never reaching break-even. A seasonal shuttle, La Patache, links it with Boutigny-sur-Essonne via Barbizon.
Audio guide
The Château de Fontainebleau, the house of the centuries
Cited from the year 1137 as a hunting lodge, it became a Renaissance palace under Francis I. The king brought in Florence Rosso, then Primatice, whose frescoes and stuccoes, adorned with the royal salamander, launched the first school of Fontainebleau. 🎨
Louis XIII was born there and was baptized there in 1601, Henri IV made the carp pond populate there, Marie-Antoinette bought herself a boudoir there in 1786. But the castle also had its dramas: Christine of Sweden had her squire assassinated there in 1657, and Louis XIV signed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes there in 1685. 🗡️
Napoleon retained Pope Pius VII there from 1812 to 1814, then signed his abdication on April 4, 1814. On April 20, in the courtyard of the White Horse, he kisses the flag of his Guard: "Farewell, my children!" Heading to the island of Elba. 😢 Under Napoleon III, a court theatre was built there (1854-1856).
Classified by UNESCO since 1981, the castle is about an hour from Paris and accessible by train: then stroll through the park, to the carp pond.
Around Fontainebleau-Avon
- Château de Fontainebleau, 900 m away — Residence of sovereigns since a charter of 1137, listed by UNESCO in 1981. Francis I summoned Italian artists here: Rosso decorated the Francis I Gallery, and the School of Fontainebleau grew from the project. The horseshoe staircase dates from 1632-1634.
- Forêt de Fontainebleau, 2200 m away — A 25,000-ha forest whose sandstone boulders, over nearly 4,000 ha, are prized by bouldering climbers. In 1853, 624 ha became an artistic reserve at the request of painters such as Théodore Rousseau, presented as the first nature reserve in the world.