Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau is about 60 km South of Paris. JM spent his teenage years there (1968-72). He attended the Lycée François 1er. There is a beautiful Palace (where Napoleon surrendered his throle) and magnificent French and English Gardens featuring a small lake dubbed l'Etang des Carpes (Carps' Pond) and a romantic island pavillion called Diane's Pavillion. 

Fontainebleau is surrounded by a vast forest that features many interesting sights, such as the Tour Denecourt and the Mare aux Fées (Fairies' Pond). The nearby villages of Avon (beautiful church) and Thomery with its charming little railway station in the middle of the woods, are also worth seeing.