From Senlis we drove not far to Chantilly in the same region of Oise. Chantilly is very well laid out with a beautifully manicured main street. The reason Sue wanted to see Chantilly was because of the horse connection. I have to admit that I had no idea what this horse connection was. I only knew the Big Bopper song, "Chantilly Lace and a pretty face". You learn something every day.
Chantilly opened its history to me and I was amazed. We did see the racecourse, being famous for horse racing but the stables and the chateau were something else. The great stables were built in 1721 by Louis II de Bourbon Prince de Conde. Sue wrote in our diary, "The Chateau built by the Bourbon Princes is amazing. Very beautiful and huge. Inside a large art display and many books and manuscripts. Fabulous library.
The grand stables were exactly that, almost as grand as the chateau, unfortunately they weren't open until late in the day, but I peeked to see a horse being groomed."
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| OMG with all these gardens, I could spend my life mowing lawns - NOT!!! |
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| OMG - with all these books, I could live here....... |
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| Sue, I think I can see dinner sitting on the lawns, YUM! |
Not realising why everything seemed so quiet we were in for a rude awaking after leaving Chantilly for Chartres, our next overnight stay. It was the beginning of a long weekend French holiday and as we drew closer to Paris the traffic became stop/start along the Periphique. There were lots of merging traffic and sweaty palms on my side. Strange that I deal with this sort of traffic in Melbourne every day but here in France its unfamiliar with a steering wheel on the opposite side.
We made it to Chartres for our overnight stay but more about that next Wednesday.
Chantilly opened its history to me and I was amazed. We did see the racecourse, being famous for horse racing but the stables and the chateau were something else. The great stables were built in 1721 by Louis II de Bourbon Prince de Conde. Sue wrote in our diary, "The Chateau built by the Bourbon Princes is amazing. Very beautiful and huge. Inside a large art display and many books and manuscripts. Fabulous library.
Interesting! Sue thinks horses - you think lace & a pretty face and I think crème -there's nothing more decadent in life than Chantilly crème. Wow! Those gardens are just magnifique - très jolie.
ReplyDeleteSo Many beautiful places to see in la belle France .
Dianne,
ReplyDeleteI was going to add more words but I didn't know them all. But Sue did.
How was your Xmas - boy isn't it hot this year?
BTW - I've been inspired by you to do 365 pics of France when Sue told me its a leap year.
I was thinking right away of "crème Chantilly" too. The chateau and its grounds are pretty amazing.
ReplyDelete(I have never been to Chartres).
Nadege - we agree about the grounds of Chantilly - extraordinary and so well cared for. Come to Chartres with us next Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI'm back!!! So far all appears to be working once more.
ReplyDeleteSo now I see Sue and I have a connection as well. Horses were my life for many, many years. So now another place to add to my list, Chantilly here I come :)) Diane
Diane - Glad all is back to normal. Sue rode horses before she met me. She would test her boyfriends out by taking them riding. I failed the test dismally but despite that, she still married me.
ReplyDelete