Just about an hour north of Paris is this beautiful stop. We were happy to get outside the city and enjoy some countryside. Probably how all the royalty felt when they visited here as a country get away. We arrived a half hour before it opened and had time to stroll the grounds. We ended up at the stables, where we were able to buy our tickets without a line that had now formed over at the chateau...Yay!
The kids enjoyed the horse show, which had one part explanation about training horses(unfortunately all in French) and the second part a musical show with the horses and riders doing tricks. A bit of history about both the Chateau and the stables.
The Château de Chantilly stands at the heart of a vast domain covering 7 800 hectares, located in one of the largest forests near Paris, Le Massif de Trois Forêts (Chantilly, Halatte and Ermonville forests).
The Château and estate have been built up by the owners of Chantilly since the Middle Ages.
The Château de Chantilly has one of the finest museums of historical paintings in France (after the Louvre in Paris) and a library well stocked with rare and precious books and manuscripts.
Cool old drawing of the Chateau
The architect Jean Aubert was commissioned by Louis-Henri de Bourbon, 7th Prince of Condé, to build the grand stables. Legend has it that the prince thought he would be reincarnated as a horse, so he wanted stables that would reflect the majesty of his rank. Thanks to him, France boasts an architectural masterpiece of the 18th century.
At the time, the stables hosted 240 horses and 500 hounds, split in different packs for the daily hunting sessions that took place all year long. Louis-Henri was so proud of his architectural wonder that he organised sumptuous dinners under the monumental dome which soars 28 meters high. Louis XV, the future Tsar Paul I and Frederic II of Prussia attended some of these dinners which were usually accompanied by hunting horns.
The French Revolution put an end to these princely times; however the grand stables were miraculously spared thanks to the army who used them as barracks. Only two statues were destroyed: the statue and fountain of the "Kennels Courtyard", and the "Renommée" at the top of the dome. Their lead was used to make bayonets. Two centuries later, in 1989, Yves Bienaimé organised a patronage operation, replaced the "Renommée" with a copy, and donated it to the Institut de France.
At the end of the 19th century, in 1886, the last owner of the grand stables, the Duke of Aumale, fifth son of King Louis-Philippe, donated his domain (the château, the hippodrome, the stables, the forest, the Condé Museum.) to the Institut de France, providing its state would be preserved
The Grand Stables, below
We were there 6 hours and it just flew by. We strolled through the apartments filled with art treasures, around the magnificent grounds, picnicked in the fields and tried our luck in the labyrinth. This was a great stop and then we had a four hour drive home. We hit a tiny bit of traffic (nothing like coming home from the shore or up north!) and made it home for the last half of Countryfile!
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| our new home! |
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| isn't this carving above the door awesome? |
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| we think Aunt Catherine should get a job here! |
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| Charlotte befriends a horse |
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| the horses are warming up before the show |
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| Molly got us great seats! |
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| we could picture the post hunting parties taking place in here |
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| the show begins |
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| the kids meet a performer |
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| a statue of a dog |
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| the English Gardens in the background |
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| who doesn't love a moat |
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| heading in to the Chateau |
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| heading to the Chapel |
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| there were lots of war,weapons and hunting things alongside the art work and tapestries |
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| beautiful! |
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| Danny took this one |
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| one of my favourite paintings |
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| isn't the marble amazing? |
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| the altar in the chapel |
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| Holy water font |
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| the prince had these "peasent" cottages built on site. he and his guests would go out to them and "rough it" for the evening while the servants brought in a sumptuous meal. |
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| the map of the labirynth |
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| Hi ho, Hiho |
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| surprises around every corner |
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| the last of the baguette went to these baby ducklings! |
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| always the monkey! |
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| The Charlotte! Rocking her birthday shirt from the Sapienzas |
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