Chantilly

Not only does Chantilly boast furniture that was once commissioned by Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI, but it boasts almost 1,000 Old Master paintings. The Condé museum presents, respecting the original hanging of the XIX th century, an important collection of paintings and drawings from the "Ecole Française" (Clouet, Poussin, Mignard, Nattier, Watteau, Ingres, Delacroix), as well as masterpieces from the Italian painters (Fra Angelico, Raphael, Carrache) and numerous masterpieces from the Northern Schools ( Van Dyck, teniers). Chantilly’s more than 3,000 Old Master drawings allow for continual temporary exhibits which are on handsome display in the former Hunt Dining Room

The castle’s history is long and impressive. Among its former residents were the enormously wealthy High Constable Anne de Montmorency (chief minister to Francis I and Henry II), and the Grand Condé, a military genius who hosted Louis XIV for a three-day feast and theatrical in 1671 that was dramatized in the film Vatel starring Uma Thurman and Gerard Depardieu. Poor Vatel! He’ll go down in history as the most dedicated of caterers, knowing that he threw himself on his sword when a fish delivery from Paris failed to turn up. By the time it arrived, Vatel was dead.

The Living Horse Museum is harboured in the world's most beautiful stables. The Grand Stables of the Princes de Condé, architectural master piece of the XVIIIth century, is situated on a unique site, facing the Chateau on one side and the hippodrome on the other.