Got Cream?

As I sit here eating a banana and Nutella crepe, I'm wishing I had a dollop of whipped cream to top it off. Inspiration: "creme chantilly."

Destination: Chantilly, about 40km north of Paris. Co-voyageurs: Anne, Kym and Luca. Quick re-cap: Anne - friend of Pat Mandel from San Francisco; Kym - friend of Anne; Luca - originally from Italy but living in France for the past 12 years.
Luca coordinated our little adventure to the Domaine de Chantilly. Some of us are lucky to have our own homes or an estate, but how many people do you know who have their own domaine? Well, the princes of Conde, cousins to the Kings of France, had their domaine, which even included a little hamlet that was the inspiration for Marie Antoinette's domaine at Versaille.

The chateau has two buildings, the Petit Chateau built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency (interesting because I live on Rue de Montmorency in Paris) and an attached renaissance style grand chateau. Though left in ruins after the French Revolution, the chateau was rebuilt 100 years later by the Duke of Aumale, son of King Louis-Phillipe. [Note to "self": research how and why there was a king in France after the revolution. Wasn't the revolution about ending the monarchy? Oi.]

There is something a bit odd about many of these photos. What do you suppose it is?
I loved the entry into the chateau, and was particularly impressed with the staircase railing. Yeah, a bit odd to be so obsessed, but it really is quite ornate and well-designed.

Something very unusual indeed. What makes these photos different?


I'm considering painting the ceiling of my living room like this. It would be nice to have a little color and to be able to look up and see a Greek myth hovering above. [Yeaaaah, right.]
Speaking of Greek myths, there is a series of about 40 stained glass windows, not religious in nature which is unusual, depicting the story of Cupid and Psyche. It's one of those "short-guy with wings gets babe with big breasts" stories. All of the windows were black and white, with only hints of yellow. The entire wall of stained-glass windows was quite impressive.

Of course, every Domaine must have a garden. I think I would be fine with about 1,500 acres too.
We came upon a little restaurant where we enjoyed lunch, and of course we indulged in a strawberry tarte with Creme Chantilly. You knew that a pastry and creme Chantilly had to pop-up somewhere in this story. Yummmm.
Did you notice that the photos of the chateau do not include hordes of tourists? It was wonderful to go to Chantilly on a Monday afternoon. It is possible to find a few places without busloads of people with cameras. A truly enjoyable afternoon.