Chantilly

Today we visited the Domaine de Chantilly, something completely unplanned when we set off this morning. 

We woke to the sight and sounds of the canal barges plying their trade along the River Oise. We were fascinated as to the bevy of swans cruising around in front of us as the barges passed - they took know notice, just bobbed up and down a few times in the wake of the barge. 

We found our way to the local tourist office where a delightful young woman was able to share many aspects of the surrounding towns. Our target was Senlis but instead we were taken by what was in offer at Chantilly.  The Château seemed the best option. 

We arrived at the Domaine de Chantilly just as the rain began to settle in, but not deterred we set off to visit the second best French art collection after the Louvre. 

Once in the Château we took a tour of the apartments that were the living quarters of the last Duke of Aumale (his last 23 years of his life were spent in exile in England), the son of King Louis-Philippe. 

The Duke was a great art collector with over 500 paintings throughout the galleries. The great artists of Italy, France and the Netherlands are represented here in great numbers. 

We later walked over to the The Cour des Chenils - the Great Stables. The building itself is considered a master piece of architecture. It housed horses and hounds for the princes of Chantilly to satisfy their task for the hunt. Today a team of horses and riders put on an equestrian shows twice a week. Today we were able to see a dressage demonstration as part of the preparation for the more formal show. 

The famous Chantilly race track is adjacent to the stables. 

Four hours later,  and we were still exploring different aspects of the Château, and a little leg weary too!  We thought we had better make tracks for our over night St Cry sur Morin.  

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