The day trip to Chateau de Chantilly~

Our destination Chateau de Chantilly

This chateau is located north of Paris about a 45 minute drive.  It was the site of the 1985 James Bond movie "A View to Kill".  Chantilly is having a 25th anniversary celebration of the film this year.

The famous stables of the Chateau de Chantilly.

Before finding the chateau, we went into the small town of Chantilly and had lunch in a quaint little restaurant, La Ferme de Conde; it once was an Anglican chapel.

We sat outdoors and had a wonderful lunch.  The onion soup starter was a meal in itself. The poulet  roti(roast chicken) was so juicy; check out the size of the serving of haricots verts (green beans).

We had a great time.

Now it's off to the Chateau....





For the history of this Chateau, please click here.  As I was preparing this blogpost, I went to several sites and saw other people's comments about this beautiful chateau.  They ranged from "don't bother" to a "wonderful day trip".  Personally, I thought it a wonderful day trip.  It is not fair to compare all chateaux to Versailles.  I don't think any other palais can compare with Versaille's garden.  But interiors are a different story.  I like to look at each one for it's own merit.  Chantilly was definitely not a waste of my time!



The Chateau is surrounded by a mote.

Just part of the sprawling gardens adjacent to the Chateau.

The entrance looking out from the inside courtyard.

The chapel.

This photo is taken from the chapel stairs looking back down into the entry foyer.
  The entrance is to the right, where all the people are located.

The chapel was narrow, long and very high~impossible to photograph, except in "snippets".

One of the ceilings.

Woody is very "into" floor patterns and ceilings.  He is always looking up or down.  So whenever there is a photo of a floor or ceiling, it's because Woody has pointed it out.  I focus more on architectural details.  Between the two of us, we take a long look at places.

The Psyche Gallery

This room is a long "connector" room.  The stained glass windows are painted in a technique known as grisaille and each set of panels tells the story of Cupid and Psyche in a poem.  I have never seen anything like this before.

The last occupant of the Chateau, the Duc d'Aumale, had quite an art collection.

Raphael's "The Three Graces"

Both Woody and I were impressed with the library.  The sheer number of books, the sizes and titles.

These are the candalabra in just one of the many cabinets in what I believe was called the butler's pantry.  Each of these was almost 2 ft. tall!  The china was Minton.  There was also a sample of one of the menus  I really couldn't figure it all out but there were an extraordinary number of courses and selections for each course.

Unfortunately for us, we arrived later in the day and were unable to take the tour of the private apartments.  Nor were we able to visit the stable area.  So....there is definitely an opportunity for another day trip! 

Or we could just watch "A View to a Kill" again.

After our visit, we had some ice cream before heading home.

The next day, Sunday, was a rest day.  We(I) slept in and we stayed in the apt most of the day.  I went to St. Eustache at 5 pm. for the organ concert, but il n'y a pas de l'audition ce soir (there is no concert scheduled for this night).

We went out for dinner stopping at St. Germain Auxerrois on the way.

We had dinner at one our favorite cafes~Cafe du Pont Neuf.  We ate here alot the last time we were in Paris because it was so close to our apt then.  The waiter was a riot and the food was good.  It is located right on the quai du Louvre near the Pont Neuf...it's busy but there's always something to see.

Cafe du Pont Neuf...I took this at an early hour before it got lively.

After dinner we walked back to rue Montorgueil and got some ice cream.....the end of a nice relaxing day.                      

Tomorrow we meet Richard at the Embassy for our "private" tour.