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Published: August 15th 2017
Chantilly is outside of Paris zone 5 so our Navigo did not cover the train fare, but it cost only 8.70€ each way from the Gare de Nord station. Our museum Pass did cover the entrance fee to explore the château, stables and roam the very extensive gardens and forested pathways.
When you arrive at Chantilly, the bus stop is about 50 yards down the street to the left as you exit the train station. It's a short, free ride through the small town and to the stop at the main entrance to the château.
The Château de Chantilly is surrounded by water, gardens and a mix of statues and monuments. It was constructed between the 14th and 19th century for the Orgemont, Montmorency, Bourbon-Condé, and Orléans families. Razed to the ground during the Revolution, it was rebuilt between 1875 and 1885 by Honoré Daumet, primarily to house the art collections of Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale and the son of Louis-Phillipe.
We were able to view 29 rooms, including the Condé Princes' Large Suites, the Art Galleries and the chapel, although another 10 rooms, the duc and duchesse d'Aumale's quarters, are available to see by guided tours only.
As with any of the various royal residence châteaus, the decor was OVER THE TOP! The art collection was extensive and included everything from Egyptian and Graeco-Roman statuettes, enamels and miniatures, exquisite HUGE tapestries, to paintings by Raphaël, Delacroix, Van Dyck, and a dozen other famous painters of the day.
Even the "Gallery of Offices", situated between the kitchens and the dining room was amazing, filled with gold flatware and silverware, porcelain, candelabras, silver and gold tea services, etc.
The Grand Stables are alongside a race track and by every outward appearance is more of an 18th century Grand Palace than a stable! We were able to see a few show horses inside and tour through the museum rooms.
The forested park surrounding the more formal Château gardens is full of walking paths, a small rustic Hamlet of 5 cottages, dozens of little clearings with statues or monuments, and ....... kangaroos!
The gardens, as usual, were filled with benches for relaxing and enjoying lunch out of doors which we did, before continuing on to the Grand Stables and walking back to the train station. Although there is a sign at the stables pointing the way
along a path with a 20 minute walk back to the station, there are no further signs beyond that. Luckily I have a European SIM card in my phone, bought in advance of our trip, so I'm able to use Google Maps cheaply and frequently, which saved the day once again! So after an hour or so, we did find the train station again and headed back home to Paris.
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