We decided to leave Paris and took the train to Chantilly. It is about 25 north of the city, and there is a straightforward train to get there. We bought tickets at the Gare du Nord in 30-45 minutes. We went to Chantilly to visit the Château de Chantilly, a castle that has the Musée Condé, showcasing a collection of paintings.
However, before getting to the castle, we went to a farmer’s market in the town’s Omer Vallon square. It was very cute. We bought some supplies for a picnic, including delicious local berries and cherry tomatoes. We also bought a strawberry jam with mint in it, which was good and has been my treat in the U.S. while I am writing this account.
We walked to the grounds of Château de Chantilly, and the heat was already unbearable. The temporary exhibition hall was near the entrance, so we popped in for a quick respite before finding a shaded picnic table. The grounds are extensive; I estimate we only saw a third of them. The area where we had our picnic also contained a Temple of Venus and the Island of Love. How French!
From there, we entered the castle to explore the collection. What a relief from the Musée d’Orsay. It was not packed with tourists, and you could actually enjoy the classical Renaissance paintings collection. I do not usually care for “old rooms” and furniture as museum pieces, but the Reading Room in this castle was impressive.
However, beyond all of the paintings, a room of stained glass captured me the most. It is called the Psyche Gallery and is a stunning room adorned with 44 stained glass windows. They are in grisaille (monochromatic style) rather than vivid colors. These windows depict the story of Psyche, a mortal woman Cupid loves. It is beautiful and quite old, but it may be the first stained glass I have even seen not depicting the Christian myth. Every stained glass window I have ever seen showed some story from the New or Old Testament; this felt incredibly unique to me. I bought a book, The Psyche Gallery by Marie Desplechin, to take some images with me. Gorgeous.
One of the things I love about this type of art, is that much of it is patently ridiculous. The patrons of the arts were swimming in money. I found these a portrait of 3 Year Old Charles IX with a cat that literally made me laugh out loud. When this painting was revealed could anyone keep a straight face? The might of the of throne is nearly overwhelming. And then I found this painting of Christ surrounded by two angels and two saints by Moro Antonio that totally reminded me of an album cover from a ’90s pop-punk album. Incredible stuff.
Once we finished with the museum, we decided to find some shade on the lawn to relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the grounds. There are more trails to explore, but the heat was unrelenting, so I sat down to find a bit of vacation serenity. Samer napped, and I flipped through the museum books I had picked up in the shop. This place is beautiful and an incredible day trip from Paris.
I have not mentioned chantilly cream, but you guessed it, they say it comes from Chantilly, France. The likely untrue story is that the maître d’ of the castle, Francois Vatel, created the famous cream at work. In reality, no one knows who made it, but the town wants everyone to know they claim it. On our way back to the train, we stopped by l’Atelier de la Chantilly to share a bowl of chantilly cream with strawberries and raspberries. It was very good. I prefer ice cream, but it was lovely nonetheless.
We walked a different route back to the train station, which let us cut through some shaded forest. It made for a pleasant walk and deposited us right in front of the train station. It was too hot to wait on the platform, so I picked up a copy of the gay French rag Tetu and slipped through it until the unairconditioned train arrived.
When we returned to Paris, we cleaned up from a day in the heat and slept on the grass. We explored a wonderful street near our house called Rue Montorgueil. This neighborhood has a lot of outdoor restaurants and bars, and the street is pedestrian-only. It was a great place to have a drink and people-watch. There are also a few covered alleyways that are spectacular. The Passage du Grand-Cerf is near here, and we stumbled upon it.
There is a lot of street art in Paris, and while we were having it, I noticed an image with fairly racist imagery. It’s an advertisement for an old shop selling goods from the French colonies. Two blocks away from it was some homo-erotic graffiti of Tin Tin. If Paris is good for anything, it makes you think hard about the world.
We had dinner at Brasserie Rosie Lou. This was a hip restaurant where I ate better than the previous night, but only partially, as well as the night we went to Caluche. The vibe was that of a bustling restaurant, not a neighborhood cafe. Tourists did not overrun it; the food was good and seemed cool. Great place.
Next: France – Day 6