Europe 2004 Video 8 – Alps Geneva Dijon Fontainebleau
Continuing on after Venice, through the Alps (Mont Blanc), Geneva, some cowbells, Dijon and Fontainebleau.
Yeah, the video quality (inherent to the technology of the time) was pretty lousy, and the videography (mine) was pretty lousy too, but it does give a sense of the thing. And now that I rewatch this edit many years later, I find I’m pretty chuffed about having nicely timed so many shots in the Fontainebleau footage based on the fifth movement of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and I think it works pretty well, especially the bit about Napoleon’s throne. There’s a fairly tangible sense of “Well then!” when we walk back out into the town of Fontainebleau. Pomp, majesty … that kinda thing. Nicely done, me.
Fontainebleau is a vastly more satisfying chateau to visit than Versailles — it’s slightly less gaudy, more varied in design, and it doesn’t hit you over the head with gold quite as much. And fewer tourists, at least when we went.
Also, I really get a kick out of Lynette’s little squeal of joy when we first encounter the muffled but pervasive sounds of cowbells in the hills somewhere between Geneva and Dijon. I guess that’s the Haut-Jura area?