A Last Day Trip, to Chantilly!

On Thursday, the second to last full day I had in Paris, Morgan and I set off in the morning to the town of Chantilly, which is north of Paris. It is actually just a few minutes from the chateau of the family she lives with, and so we'd taken the train there before and knew the system.

When we got off in Chantilly, we had a lovely walk of about 20 minutes through shaded paths and a huge field until we reached the gigantic stone edifice. It was gorgeous and a bit foreboding, and had horses carved all over the outside. We spent some time walking around it trying to find an entrance, and circumvented it about twice (which took a decent amount of time) before we realized that what we were looking at were the stables. Chantilly was a hunting castle, and the family that lived there in the 18th century devoted an entire chateau to the horses.

Eventually we made our way through beautiful green fields to the actual Chateau de Chantilly, which is surrounded by a gorgeous, flat moat, and a large gravel driveway. Entering the Chateau was an amazing experience for me; in general, I don't particularly prefer touring the insides of old homes, I enjoy the grounds and gardens. But in this case, I absolutely loved going through all the rooms and seeing the beautiful art and sculptures the families living there had amassed over the hundreds of years since it was built. When the Chateau was given to the French state, the artwork was left as-was, and so there is an entire room full of paintings, hallways full of prints, stained glass and sculptures, anti-rooms with pottery and antiques, and a gorgeous, gorgeous library remniscent of the one in Beauty and the Beast.

After a full tour of the chateau, we went trompsing through the slightly muddy grounds and gardens for a couple hours. There were gardeners everywhere, repairing and tending to things, and so much wildlife! In one stone pond, we tried to feed a couple swans, who very visciously hissed at us -- in a big, hollow bush, there were a bunch of peacocks that kept making strange noises and glaring at us! It was hilarious, and so much fun. The weather wasn't sunny but it was really warm, and I think that it was perfect for the kind of wild setting of the French countryside.

We headed back to Paris, and that evening Morgan's host family took the two of us to dinner at a Southern French restaurant in Paris, where we had yummy foie gras and duck for dinner. It was nice to see them a last time before leaving, because I spent a lot of time with them and at their apartment!

The next day was my last day in Paris :(

Some more FANTASTIC photos of Chantilly to the right...it was my FAVORITE chateau that I've seen in France!!!