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Published: November 3rd 2012
Chantilly is a sweet little town about a half hour out of Paris via a train out of Gard du Nord. The train ticket is 8 Euro each way. A taxi line awaits the train to take passengers to the moated, fairy tale castle at Chateau Chantilly. The chateau was seen in an old James Bond film, “A View to Kill.” Half of us took the cab (must preserve our tootsies and our energy) to the Chateau but walked back to town after our visit. The other half trekked up on a picturesque trail.
Domaine de Chantille is made up of a Chateau, a park, and the Grand Stables. The Chateau houses an enormous library and magnificent art gallery. We skipped the actual house tour on the advice of travel writer Rick Steves who advised it might be a tad boring and that the commentary would only be in French. The art gallery (the Chateau’s own collection) was of particular interest and we were allowed to take photos (no flash). A second art exhibit of the work of Eugène Delacroix banned the camera. Themes of horses (very Chantillyish) and exotic North African scenes prevailed.
Ellen
and I had a great time winding our way through the English Garden. This was one of the nicest days - weather-wise that is – of our entire trip. It was great to be outside in the sunshine in a beautiful, peaceful setting.
The Grand Stable is home to 30 horses. It has an impressive horse stalls, a beautiful domed exhibit ring inside, and a lovely seasonal courtyard exhibit ring outside. It is essentially in the “backstretch” for the Chantilly Race Course. The stable building, built by Louis-Henri, Duke of Burbone, is indeed grand. The Duke had an idea that he would be reincarnated as a horse and had his own after-life comfort in mind. With everything else so lovely, the museum is a bit underwhelming and the Horse Spectacular didn’t live up to its name. But it was still a worthwhile experience.
Ellen and I walked back to town. We had the best town experience by far. Many French shops and restaurants are closed on Monday, but we found a great little tea room with an interesting “made in Europe” tea-related inventory. We felt relaxed and probably spent over
an hour sipping our wine, tea and soup and nibbling on tiny blinis with a trio of toppings. Speaking of topping; our pie was topped with famed Chantilly creame – what an indulgent treat!
We met the rest of the group as agreed in the train station and glided back to Paris in a very high speed train. It is important to remember that while much of the town i.e. porcelain shops, restaurants,
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paula taylor
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Belle France
What a wonderful trip.. such sights and adventures.. i could spend every year in France for a week or two..