Chateau de Chantilly, Sunday in France

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!

our new home!

isn't this carving above the door awesome?

we think Aunt Catherine should get a job here!

Charlotte befriends a horse

the horses are warming up before the show

Molly got us great seats!

we could picture the post hunting parties taking place in here

the show begins

the kids meet a performer

a statue of a dog

the English Gardens in the background

who doesn't love a moat

heading in to the Chateau

heading to the Chapel

there were lots of war,weapons and hunting things alongside the art work and tapestries

beautiful!

Danny took this one

one of my favourite paintings

isn't the marble amazing?

the altar in the chapel

Holy water font

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.

the map of the labirynth

Hi ho, Hiho

surprises around every corner

the last of the baguette went to these baby ducklings!

always the monkey!

The Charlotte! Rocking her birthday shirt from the Sapienzas

Day three in the City of Lights

Saturday 19 May

Back to Paris we go! Today we are heading to the other side of the city to Montmartre. We will visit A la Basilique du Sacre-Coeur or Sacred Heart Basilica which was built between 1875 and 1914. Monmarte means Hill of Martyrs, and it is wear St. Denis, the first Bishop of Paris, was decapitated for his faith. The drive goes very smoothly, under a bright blue sky, and we are excited. Jerry pilots the car masterfully around the city and right into the Monmarte. We are following the Tom-tom and climbing the steep hill towards the basilica. Jerry spots an on the street parking spot and parallel parks on a very steep hill using the parking brake as he jockeys the car in. It was amazing! It turns out we are coming up the back staircase and so beat both the crowds and the huge flights of steps. This is great for Molly who gamely works all the marble steps but it is challenging for her. We swing around to the front and all of Paris is laid out at our feet. It is breathtaking. Danny and Jerry immediately head to the climb the dome and visit the crypt area, and walk right in. They climbed 320 steps on a twisty turny tightly spiraling stone staircase and emerged on the roof of the Church. The view was so perfect it took your breath away. It was great that the day was sunny, the city sparkled. Charlotte, Molly and I went through the church. No photos were allowed and it was peaceful and respectful inside. consecrated in 1919 to the Heart of Christ , revelation of the love of God for mankind, the church is a unique place in the world of perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, night and day, for more than 125 years (1 August 1885). This makes the Basilica shine out as a beacon of hope. When a visitor to Paris sees the white dome above the city, he says to himself, “Up there, the Lord is present. Up there, someone is praying for me.” Wow! I received the Sacrament of Reconciliation from an old French priest who did his best to interpret my English and absolved me. au Nom du Pere et du fils et du Saint Esprit, je vous pardonne tous vos peches. It was very moving and I feel great as always! Candles are lit for all the mothers we know, for Aunt Reg and Nana, and for Jake at the altar of his Patron, St. Michael the Archangel. The inlaid tile of the sword at the foot of his altar was spectacular.

We enjoyed sitting outside on the steps in the Parisian sunshine (finally!) and watching the world go by. What crowds! We wandered the streets of Monmarte, where in years past artists like Dali and Picasso hung out, and watched real live artists painting and selling their work on the streets. We walked around back and started down the hill and we came across a beautiful park and had our picnic. As café is 5 Euro and the food even pricier, we are happy to munch sandwiches. The kids discovered that pigeons like grape seeds and had a ball spitting/tearing the seeds out and having the birds gobble them up. From Monmarte we squeezed out of our parking spot(free!) and headed down to the catacombs area. Again Jerry finds an amazing, close on the street free tiny parking spot and executes another parallel park extraordinaire! We can see a super long line put we hope that, like yesterday at the Orsay, it will move quickly. While Jer and Danny zoom to find the end, I ask someone near the front how long they have been waiting. The answer is THREE HOURS! We asked Danny if he thought he wanted to do it and he said No Way! We did do the catacombs in Rome last summer after all. The bright side was that the end of the line was just across the street from Paul, a Boulangerie established in 1890, and smelling like heaven on earth! My Paris dream come true. Outside table, café crème, a cranberry croissant, pain du chocolat for the kids, and olive studded baguette for Jer. Then round two…éclairs, cheese sticks, cookies and more coffee. I think the gals thought we were never going to leave but we couldn’t stop EATING! Naturally we had to walk then, and headed for the Jardin d Luxemburg. Danny got a wooden boat and played in the pond for a half hour. We strolled through the whole garden, admiring sculpture, enjoying all the different people eating, talking, reading, sketching, sleeping, jogging, chasing toddlers, such fun. Suddenly we heard music and followed it to a beautiful old bandstand where a classical music concert was just getting underway. The children all gathered on the steps and adults were standing and sitting all around enjoying the fine music. We were so happy to be there at the right time. We trudged back to the car under a darkening sky and no sooner had we buckled in than it started to rain. Weren’t we lucky! Jerry knew I wanted to see the Arc d Triumphe and so we decided to drive down on our was out of town. We headed up the Champs de ‘ellisas and gawked at all the stores and masses of people. Ahead , there it was, massive and iconic. As we circled around we saw some cars had pulled up on the curb and parked, so we thought, why not? We’ll do it too. Jerry bumps up and we hop out in the rain and take a few pictures. While Danny and I are still out of the car, the police come over to Jerry and start yelling at him quite strongly. He calming tells them he doesn’t speak French and they say to him “GO” and wave madly at him and the car. At this point Danny and I are walking over and we see the car moving away…we see the police as well, and circle the other way. Jer sees us, zooms over, we fling open the door of the car and throw ourselves on top of Molly and close the door and Jer takes off! It was crazy! What Danny and I noticed as we were circling to catch our ride was that the other cars pulled up in the curb all contained French Marine officers who were taking part in a special memorial. Oops! Well we will never forget it that’s for sure. The rain increases and turns into a full blown thunderstorm and we are so happy we are not on a boat tour or in a garden somewhere! Back to the Middle Eastern place behind the hotel we go, the kids and Jer get delicious sliced meat sandwiches and frites, while I get coffee and eat more bread back in our room! It is too good to waste my appetite on anything else. Tomorrow we check out and head to Chantilly and then home.

climbing the steps to Sacre Coeur

a view toward Paris

the amazing church sculptures

quick illegal shot of the altar

enjoying the sun

what a view

a fun street artist entertains the crowd

real artists at work

one of Uncle Donnies favourite artists

a living statue

the view from our park bench

loaded down with grape seeds this pigeon decides to sit right down with us

Charlotte and Danny trade glasses

Jerry tearing up the roads in Paris, here we are passing Notre Dame

croissant time

"un of everything, S'il vous plait!"

playing statue

heading to Jardin du Luxembourg

I was not mistaken for a French fashion model

Luxembourg Palace, built in 1611 by Marie de Medicis

the famous boat pond

this was so much fun to watch

Charlotte enjoys the band concert

our hit and run visit to the Arc de Triomphe, which dates from the early 1800's

it honours those who fought and died for France in the revolution and the Napoleanci Wars

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and eternal flame. This flame inspired the one at Presdient Kennedys grave.