Chantilly

​Yesterday’s excursion to Chantilly arose out of a google search for ‘day trips from Paris’. We’d been to Versailles a number of times, Fontainebleau twice and Chartres lots. Plumping for something new and different, we hopped a train to Chantilly. [Thanks for all the feedback from you consumers of this blog for the guessing competition regarding the Big Boppa’s song. Here’s the total number of responses I received: Nil.]  All that aside, off to Chantilly …

Never having heard anything of this town to the north, we were amazed by the landscape that unfolded to us at the end of a long, dark forest track (the sort where you would expect to see a woodcutter’s cottage off to the right, and bump into Hansel and Gretel galavanting gaily about).

Right there at the end of a path was a race track! Yes, Chantilly is the Moonee Valley of Paris. But ancient. Off in the distance we could see the castle, and off to the right a VERY old grandstand. 

We strolled on towards the chateau, occasionally ’sticky-beaking’ into back gardens of rich people who could access race day by popping out their back gate. 

Venturing further towards the château, we soon discovered that it wasn’t a (the) chateau. It was a HUGE building for the stabling of horses. Ancient AS!

The actual château was found further along, down off to the left. A gorgeous castle it was indeed, but closed this day to give the helping people inside (eg the ones who take your money) a well-earned rest. Shucks!

A casual lunch in the cafe behind the stables and a wander through the town’s main drag saw us back to Paris and a quick walk up to Sacré Cœur. But that’s another story …

Toodles!