Yves Bienaimé, creator of the « Living Horse Museum » has transformed this historic park making it a symphony of gardens with hosepipes and waterfalls as in the 17th century. The park is classed as “a remarkable garden”. A further “Living Museum” of miniature farm-yard animals which is unique in Europe was created in 2013.
We are at less than 30 km from the centre of Paris which means it is less than 40 minutes by road or 19 minutes by train to get there.
Discover masterpieces of Renaissance art with a visit to the Ecouen Chateau.
Ecouen, National Renaissance Museum
The Serge Ramon museum is the only European museum showing 4000 copies of writing symbols and historical graffiti engraved or sculpted by man from antiquity to our days
Verneuil en Halatte, Museum of the Walls
The Gallé-Juillet museum displays around a thousand fine earthenware potteries of Creil and Montereau. The Creil factory was at its height in the 19th century and amalgamated with that of Montereau in 1840 but closed after a fire in 1895.
From the 17th century onwards dealers in the region of Méru manufactured for Paris wholesalers luxuy objects such as fans, opera-glasses, brooches, jewels, etc) in material from the ends of the earth (mother-of-pearl, shells, ivory, exotic woods).
Méru, mother-of-pearl capital
Auvers was the cradle of the impressionist painters.
- Daubigny, precurseur of the movement
- Cézanne who was converted to impressionism in Auvers
- Pissaro
- Van Gogh who only spent 70 days there in 1890 but who produced a truly feverish amount of paintings (70 canvases, some of which are among the best known in the world). Van Gogh stayed in the Ravoux Inn (the Van Gogh house) opposite the Town Hall and he is buried with his brother Theo in the Auvers cemetery.
Nélie Jacquemart-André, proprietor of the estate until 1912, arranged the château with the refinement of a great private collector to display articles she bought back from her travels : 6000 works of art are displayed with taste (paintings, sculptures, tapestries, antique furniture, art objects…) to create a cultured and feminine atmosphere.
The Chateau-Museum Jacquemart-André
The Royal Abbey is situated at the heart of Ermenonville forest in a 30 ha park designed after the Villa d’Este gardens in Tivoli, Italy. The abbey ruins can be visited, the chapel (with a Renaissance Fresco), three hundred year old trees, water features, statues, a rose garden and the Chateau-Museum Jacquemart-André.
This gallo-roman city has known many glorious hours. Known for its cathedral constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries, it has a remarkable stone spire 78m high. After a fire in 1504, the transept was reconstructed in a very flamboyant style.
The medieval town surrounded by remparts and narrow cobble-stone streets preserves its old world charm. It’s possible to visit the old town in a horsedrawn open carriage.
The tomb of Hugues Capet has been discovered in the foundations of the Saint Frambourg Chapel.
Ruins of a roman arena are visible evidence of roman presence in the town.
Surrounded by streams and close to an ornithological reserve, Royaumont Abbey was built in 1228 by Louis IX better known as Saint Louis.
Standing in a protected environment, the abbey is found today in the midst of marshes and forests. The cloister and refectory are amongst the most remarkable to be seen to this day.
Here you can visit both the ruins of the royal abbey and the Château-Museum Jacquemart-André.
Chantilly, Horse Capital City
This town has one of the finest sites in the world dedicated to horses. The training centres extend over the whole of the Chantilly region. The reason for this development is that the quality of the ground is suitable for the fragile legs of thoroughbred horses.
At present over 3500 horses, 2500 of them thoroughbreds are trained and cared for.
As of the 14th century in order to develop hunting, star-shaped road crossings and broad, straight alleys were created. In 1884 the Duke of Aumale donated the 6300 hectares to the French Institute.
This owes its growth to the Duke of Bourbon and the Prince of Condé who was an ardent collector of porcelain from the Far East. A factory was created in 1730 and the Prince’s oriental themes were renewed.
The Museum of Chantilly Porcelain
Sumptuous creations such as the Duchess of Aumale’s dress can be admired here. Chantilly lace was made on spindles with black or white silk. At the time of the second Empire, it was very successful because of fashionable shawls, parasols and dress flounces. Today the manufacture has totally disappeared.
Considered as the finest in the world, they are called a masterpiece of 18th century civil architecture. Today they house the Living Museum of the Horse.
Built by the Prince of Condé in 1678 on the banks of the Nonette and transformed by the Duke of Aumale in the 19th century. The Manse Pavilion or Prince’s Mill shelters a hydraulic machine to feed the water features, waterfalls and fountains. In 1885, the Duke of Aumale installed a laundry there which was the most modern in its time.
This is classified as an historical monument and stretches for 110 ha. In the garden created by Le Notre you find formal gardens, fountains, canals, water features, hamlets.
The Château de Chantilly dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and houses the sumptuous apartments of the Condé princes then of the Duke of Aumale. The Condé museum is second to the Louvre. It displays works of many artists including Raphaël, Poussin, Ingres, Watteau, Delacroix and Corot and has one of the finest libraries in France.
Princely town and horse capital, Chantilly is one of the finest jewels of French patrimony in the midst of a 6300 hectare forest, the Duke of Aumale bequeathed it to the Institute of France.
Les Chambres du Lys near the Château de Chantilly