Chantilly

Day three of my northern France trip lead me to Chantilly. It was about a 25 minute train ride from Paris... The total cost of a round trip ticket from Gare Paris Nord is 7euros with a 12-25 card. The reason we went was to see the Chateau de Chantilly. I have a strange affinity for castles so if I'm near one I want to go. I spent a few days traveling around castles in the Loire Valley a few years ago and absolutely loved every minute of it. Chantilly, however, is not a royal residence for kings or queens, but a chateau built for the descendants and relatives of the royal family. Most notably, the grand Prince de Conde, Louis II de Bourbon.

The Princes de Conde loved to hunt and race horses. The chateau is decorated with several hunting paintings and there is a large horse stable and race track on the grounds. The parc is huge and unfortunately we didn't have enough time to see it all. I want to go back just to finish walking around the gardens!

There is a museum located in the chateau called the Musee Conde, which houses the second richest collections of artwork, second to the Louvre.