Day 4 in France

Sunday, July 5 – day 4 in France

Today we got up early and zipped to the station to catch a train to Chantilly for a day at the Chateau and stables. It took a few minutes to sort out train stuff as there’s more than one train option to the place – we opted for the high speed version and were in Chantilly before 10. For breakfast: muffins and pastries at the train station.

We then walked through Chantilly to a big park that connected to the chateau grounds; we could see the immense, gorgeous Chateau in the distance – gorgeous paths with some bikers, dog walkers, joggers out.

Another lovely blue sky day in France. The trees in the grounds were huge, many planted in gorgeous rows, linking paths and serving as walls near and around the Chateau, which, with its grounds and outbuildings, seems to go forever. There’s also a horse track on one side. In the forested areas around the Chateau hunts used to take place. (Apparently the Chateau de Chantilly’s domain covers 7,800 hectares – not sure how big that really is, but the place’s web site says it’s located in one of the largest forests near Paris.)

We stopped at the back of one of the buildings to ask about the stables and were pointed in the right direction. En route we popped in at a lovely church: Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (built in late 1600’s – that’s the extent of my knowledge as everything I can find on the church is in French!).

After securing our tix we hit the house, which is immense and gorgeous and brimming w/ art:

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.

Claire and I took the audio tour; the chapel was a highlight; the art is amazing.
After perusing we had baguette sandwiches outside on the immense lawn that encircles the place, along with dozens of French families.

At 2:00 we headed to the stables to check out the museum there (supposedly the best stables in France – lucky horses).

We’d seen horses and riders coming in and out earlier – what a gorgeous place to ride. Inside: gorgeous stone building with antler decorations over arches above the stalls – lovely, pampered horses in them with names above. We went into a courtyard area where several were being worked, watched for a bit, then checked out the museum area where various harnesses and outfits are on display, along with wagons (race gear, riding habits of old, etc.).

Eventually the doors opened to the “spectacular” event arena and we all flooded in to grab good seats in another gorgeous, domed building decorated with antlers throughout, big fountain with statue to each side, small arena in the center.

The show was an operatic program with lovely music wherein riders and horses performed, horses danced, with and without riders. One performer did gymnastics astride a horse, for example. another, veiled Arab style, directed the horse with hand movements. Small ponies were used for some amusing parts of the show.

Combined, the performance relayed life in the 1700’s (I’m inferring given the program was in French).

Gorgeous, varied costuming – some peasant dress, one rider in white gown and wings, hair flowing as her white horse seemed to float effortlessly around the ring. One scene had six elegantly dressed ladies with the big Duchess of Georgiana style hats atop their heads. Some rode side saddle; each song had a different “stage” activity with narration to accompany so it told a story of the Chateau during the 1700’s.

The last song had someone dressed as the The Duc d'Aumale riding his horse (prior acts showed jockeys, small ponies pulling carts, a runaway pony, peasant ladies gardening, women showing off pony stunts, etc.). It was all beautifully done.

Ava enjoyed it so much she took a short nap.

Afterward we walked through the entire stables and saw the horses that performed, along with some of their riders.

From the Chateau we wandered to the train station, stopping for ice cream before boarding our train to Paris, then Metro’d it to the hotel area, ate at a sidewalk café on the Champs Elysees and called it a night!