Featured heavily in the James Bond movie A view to a kill (1985), Château de Chantilly is a spectacularly historic castle in the town of Chantilly about a half hour by train fromParis.
I was on holidays in France, staying in Fontainebleau about an hour by train to Paris. Caught the train from Fontainebleau Avon to Gare de Lyon and changed train to Chantilly via Paris Nord. From Gare de Chantilly-Gouvieux it takes about twenty minutes walk to the château but you can catch a bus from the station or a short ride by taxi.
When I read up about this former home of the Duc d’Aumale, the son of the last king of France, Louis Phillippe I, I immediately thought of grand chateaux like Fontainebleau and Versailles (both I’ve visited). However, when I arrived here I realised it’s one of the most underappreciated chateaux. It looks a structure moored inside a lake with vast lawned terraces. The chateaux was rebuilt after the French Revolution with two attached buildings, the Petit Château (built 1560) and the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt 1870.
The layout of this chateaux was by Le Nôtre (he’s credited with the stunning gardens of Versailles. And of course the idealised village Le Hameau (Hameau de la Reine - The Queen’s Hamlet) tucked away amongst wooded forests, inspired Marie Antoinette to build Château de Versailles before the Revolution.
The informal English Garden was perhaps reminiscent of the d’Aumale’s time when he was exiled in Twickenham for more than twenty years. During this time d’Aumale accumulated exquisite collections of art and rebuilt the chateaux. The Grand Château dwarfed the original Petit Château with completely different designs but they seem very much an original.
The rebuilt created the aesthetic Musée Condé. This has one of the most comprehensive collections of Old Master paintings with 19th century paintings filling the grand reception hall.
Musée Condé is regarded as having one of the largest art gallery in France with works ranging from Phillippe de Champagne, Van Dyck, Eugéne Delacroix to Autumn by Botticelli.
The other fascinating part of this chateaux is the library of the Petit Château with huge collections of manuscripts, printed volumes and medieval manuscripts including rare collections of incunabula (book pamphlet printed before the year 1501).
On top of all that is the Grandes Écuries (Great Stables) which much larger than Buckingham Palace! There are 30 horses lounge and a museum dedicated to horses and its history.
This chateaux is certainly a stunning castle to rival Château de Fontainebleau and Château de Versailles. It costs about €17 to enter which includes the gardens. It opens seven days from 10:00 am to 6:00 p.m. but the garden opens until 8:00 p.m. There’s also a Flower Show around May. Horse racing is subject to schedules run by France Gallop.
Merci pour les souvenirs, Château de Chantilly 
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