We will be driving from from Annecy to Chantilly, and then spending 1 night in Chantilly before flying back home the following afternoon out of CDG.
Recommendations for hotels, activities, restaurants in the area? I am a huge horse enthusiast and look forward to checking out the great stables at Chantilly, but am open to all suggestions. Chantilly isn't in Rick's 2018 guide. I will be traveling with my husband and 8 year son.
Thanks!
Hi,
Chantilly is well worth visiting, historically and also if you're interested in horses, regardless if the place is listed, recommended in the RS book...totally irrelevant. I've been there twice, both times day trips from Arras.
Chantilly was the chateau of the Grand Condê, whose decisive victory at Rocroi in 1643 destroyed Spanish military superiority. You can see that painting of Rocroi celebrating French battlefield victories, including that of Yorktown, in the Battle Gallerie in the Chateau Versailles, wall size paintings one after another.
"...a huge horse enthusiast...." As such I would also recommend going to Warendorf/Westfalen in Gemany. Warendorf is close to Münster/Westfalen.
I've been to Chantilly twice, both times day trips from Paris in May.
I'm a thoroughbred racing fan and went to the Chantilly race course twice. If you're interested, you'll want to go to the france-galop website to find out when Chantilly is having its days of races. French racing has three major race courses, Paris Longchamp, Chantilly, and Saint-Cloud, and racing days alternate among those top venues, as well as with smaller courses.
The race course is within easy walking distance from the chateau (a matter of a few hundred yards, really), whose art works are worth viewing. You'll certainly want to walk the expansive grounds as well.
The racing stables with the adjoining horse museum is next to the chateau. The museum was musty and rather unkempt when I went but I think it may have undergone a much-needed renovation since I was there. The exhibits were literally all-things-horses, not just pertaining to thoroughbred race horses, but work horses and show horses as well. This included paintings and other art works, horses carved in wood, a short film, and even horse board games. The horse museum sponsors equestrian events, and I saw some dressage training. The very odd thing about my visit to the stables (which, in addition to the stabled horses, features dozens of carriages from the past) and the museum itself is that I was the only one to tour them during that two-hour period. I was utterly, eerily alone. It was a singular experience.
The horse museum had a small gift shop that was closed when I first got there, but was opened by the young staff when they saw me.
I was in Chantilly in April and there were a lot of horses on the meadows around the château. Driving the D924 at the northside of it to Senlis gave a nice view with horses at the foreground and the château at the background. There is a little car park along the road for enjoying the view. Driving the D606 north to Apremont you can see meadows with horses too and you will pass by the polo club there.
Btw. Senlis on the way to CDG is worth a visit too.
Chantilly is covered in Rick's Paris book. But since it's meant as a daytrip from Paris, there's no accommodation listed. The chateau info on their own web site will presumably cover any detail you might otherwise get from the two pages of the book description.
