MarySteve, if you're going to rent a car and cruise around the countryside near Fontainebleau then you can check out my photo reports about exploring that area to give you some ideas.

http://tinyurl.com/6aksvbd

http://tinyurl.com/buhknqs

If you head to Barbizon then afterwards you should head through the towns of Fleury-en-Bière (see the private château there) then on to Courances (which has a public château and amazing Japanese gardens that can be visited)

http://www.courances.net/

then on through Moigny-sur-Ecole before arriving in Milly-la-Forêt, a wonderful little town. In Milly definitely see the the Chappelle Saint Blaise les Simples, decorated by Jean Cocteau. His house in town is also a museum. If it's open then just outside Milly visit Le Cyclop. Here is the tourist office website for Milly and there's more to do in and near here than what I mentioned.

http://www.millylaforet-tourisme.com/

South of Milly the villages of Noisy-sur-Ecole and Oncy-sur-Ecole are also very quaint, though there's nothing to see there except enjoying their quaintness. Stop at the tourist office in Milly and you'll learn about other stuff to see and do there and nearby, which you may find on the tourist office website. There's actually some great prehistoric rock art in the forests near to here but it's not info available to the public (I have seen it because I'm a member of a rock art research group) but maybe at the tourist office in Milly they might point you in the right direction. There's actually a lot to see and do near Milly but no one will ever discover this so I hope you do and that you enjoy it.

I'm not done though. If you like artists then as you have seen in one of my reports above you could head to Moret-sur-Loing after Barbizon. Barbizon is really ground zero for the whole modern art movement (well, modern by 19th century standards). This is where the realist art movement began and the famous impressionist masters (Van Gogh etc.) were all inspired by this movement and the artists of Barbizon. Although it's rather touristy today you have to look beyond that to understand its importance in the history of art.

Moret was the home of Alfred Sisley and the tourist office there has great info to give you (tell them I sent you there). Near to there you'd head on to the town of Marlotte, which was another famous little art town contemporaneous with Barbizon. You'll never have heard of the artists that lived and worked here but art historians would know about them. Stop in the tourist office here and get their excellent brochure and info to take you on the tourist trail through town. There are 3 or 4 excellent restaurants in this town, which is rare for such a small town. The tourist trail continues in the adjacent town of Bourron and there are two excellent restaurants here as well, one of which is gourmet quality. Then continue on to Grez-sur-Loing which was another important artist community. It was here that Robert Louis Stevenson met his future wife.

http://www.ville-moret-sur-loing.fr/rubrique.php?id=189

http://www.msl-tourisme.fr/index.php/francais/accueil

http://tourisme-bourronmarlotte.jimdo.com/

http://www.artistes-grezsurloing.fr/M_Liens.htm

http://www.tourisme77.fr/patrimoine-...-sur-loing.htm

Because you might not find it buried in one of the links I gave you here is info about the artists of Grez-sur-Loing and their works:

http://www.artistes-grezsurloing.fr/E_Biographies.htm

Also, I just did a day trip from Paris, train to Bayeaux, and tour of Normandy D-Day beaches and American Cemetery. Poignant, and I have a fantastic tour guide. Might be worth a look. It's a long day, for sure, but worth it...and maybe even an overnight in Bayeaux, as it's a lovely town. Have fun!

Bravo FMT! I lost myself for a long while in just the first link. Your knowledge of history is immense and I fully appreciated it. Thank you for introducing this reader to JJ and his list of amazing accomplishments. I loved learning about megaliths, dolmens and menhirs! I truly hope we can work it into a plan. Hunting down menhirs will be my quest! Mary

Thanks for the nice compliments MarySteve. I certainly do miss JJ, God rest his soul. Aside from the menhir you saw in my Fontainebleau to Milly-la-Forêt report there are other menhirs in that area but they are very difficult to locate and often on private property. The Michelin maps have icons for those megaliths designated as historic monuments but this only accounts for less than 10% of all megaliths. Often the info has to be found from local sources.

Because he's worth learning about here's a bit more about JJ:

http://www.massarchaeology.org/North...cques/JJR4.htm

Here's a bit of info about megaliths in that area. You might ask at the tourist office in Milly for help in locating them:

http://cfpphr.free.fr/mega91.htm

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_...-For%C3%AAt%29

I think he is missed by many. Is that you at his 90th bday? I seem to recall having seen a pic of you in one of your photo journals.

Apologies to other fodorites for having hijacked this post. Mary

Never been to Paris, but it is my dream trip!

Just booked the flights . Now, I'm excited! Silcother, I hope you get to go someday!