Monday morning was a glorious summers day and perfect for visiting Chateau Chantilly. We planned the trip like a military exercise. Metro station name and time, direction to Metro station to disembark and time of arrival, walk time to RER station (country trains) and time of arrival, Time of departure and destination. Time of arrival at Chantilly. The same for the return trip. … Check!

We arrived at Chantilly station, located the free bus for the 10 min drive to the Chateau and arrived at the gates as they were opening at 10.00. So easy. Also check the times for the bus to return to the station later in the afternoon.

We spent several hours inside the chateau. Included in the admission price is an audio tour which was one of the best we have experienced anywhere. Apart from descriptions of the features of each room, you could also choose to listen to additional "back stories". You know me and back stories … the ones that make short stories long and drive my family insane???

The back story for Chantilly is posted at the end of this "post" and you can choose to ignore it.

I also drive Ches insane with my mispronunciation of French. Sometimes it's her own fault; as when she says "Can you go over there and read that sign?" What does she expect me to report back? She had worked on my pronunciation of the station Chantilly Gouvieux, pronounced "shon tee guv yer". Sometimes I get it right, sometimes "shantee govyer". I'm a work in progress or some might say stalled.

The unique thing about the Chateau is that Henri d'Orléans, the Duke of Aumale was in Algeria at the time of the revolution and unable to return, he set up home in London in a residence provided by Queen Victoria. Apparently he liquidated all his assets and began acquiring works of art (primarily books and paintings). No one has explained to me what the assets were and where. I had thought that all property etc. would have been confiscated by the state

However he achieved it, he acquired a collection second only to the Louvre. After the restoration in 1818, he reclaimed Chateau Chantilly and installed his collection. He continued to acquire material. For example, he acquired a large number of mini portraits of Bourbon and Condi ancestors going back centuries and hung them as a mass display in one small room.

The Bourbon kings had ruled over Naples, Sicily and Parma from the early 1700's however had been marrying into Italian royalty from the early 1600's, thereby acquiring sensational Roman noses. Take a look at Louis II de Bourbon-Condé. Magnificent snoz.

He thoughtfully arrange his collection in rooms around either themes or philosophical principles and on his death, bequeathed the Chateau and collection to the state with the proviso that no rearrangement of his collection could be made. The Chateau is as it was in 1897.

It's rare for Ches and me to spend so long inside historic "homes". Here we were within one week spending hours in Blenheim Palace and Chateau Chantilly, possibly the two grandest homes in the world. Ches won't set foot inside Versailles after our last visit as she says that she takes issue with Kings and Queens using a country's money to build and furnish such lavish palaces however doesn't have an issue with nobility building them.

The Chateau have organised the catering brilliantly. You can walk a kilometre or so through the gardens to a café, leave the ground for a snack or, dine at the restaurant right outside the exit door from the Chateau itself. Captive audience.

We had a really enjoyable lunch sitting on a deck in the middle of the courtyard. Ballotine of Guinea Fowl and mousseline of crab on a bed of cauliflower and potatoes in a cream sauce followed by Paris Brest. This might be the best quality and value for money we've experienced as captives of an exhibit/institution. The Paris Brest alone was truly sensational.

Energy restored, we left the Chateau grounds, crossed the moat and walked across the fiend to the stables. As Sharon had impressed on us, these aren't to be missed. Horses housed in stables with vaulted ceilings 38m high with a domed performance ring. These were built in the 18th century and are the largest in Europe. If there are larger, somewhere other than Europe, I'd be amazed. These are so impressive that the Princes of Condi entertained Kings in the stables and Louis X1V was so impressed or should I say, envious, that he had the same architect design a set of similar stables for Versailles.

What Louis couldn't match is a racecourse with stands opposite the stables and a straight that runs beside the walls of the stables.

Inside we toured the museum of the history of the horse and watched horses being shod.

We were on a pretty tight schedule to return to the apartment by 5.30 to meet cousin Alison who was flying in from Edinburgh for two days. When buying our tickets, Ches had asked the woman what time the busses returned to the station. Long story short … she gave us the wrong times .. missed the bus … woman couldn't care less .. security guy did … he phoned us a taxi … made the train on time.

Sharon had suggested that we should look at restaurants in Rue Guisarde as more locals dined there than tourists. It's amazing that Ruede Buci is no more than a couple of hundred yards away and all restaurants are jammed to capacity with tourists, here in Rue Guisard on the other side of Boulevard St Germain the restaurants are full of locals. We chose La Boussole, which served a fusion of French with Asian dishes/spices. While seated inside against the back wall it was a little warm however the food was above average. I had duck breast and a lemon tart in a glass. Yup, the tart lemon filling was in the bottom of the glass and crumbled cooked pastry on top. Ches had sea bass with guacamole and vegetables in garlic butter and molten chocolate cake while Alison also had the Duck breast and a trio of Crème Brulee.

Home to a disturbed nights sleep as the church bells chimed off and on all night and construction vehicles seemed to come and go (they are working on the roads around the Senate building at the end of the street.)

You can bail now or read about the Chateau:

In 2002, the entire Chateau was in desperate need of restoration and protection against humidity and rising damp. It required E70m for the restoration and the Aga Khan donated E40m of it.

The men who left their mark on Chantilly

The Domain of Chantilly always belonged to princely dynasties that were close to royal power but also rivalled with it. These dynasties were deeply committed to the upkeep and embellishment of the domain, according to the fashions of their time.

Anne de Montmorency (1493-1567), constable of François I, decided to carry out renovation work on the medieval building and entrusted this work to Pierre Chambiges. Circa 1560, he employed Jean Bullant, the architect who designed his château in Écouen, to construct the "Petit Château", now the oldest part of Chantilly.

Anne de Montmorency also had the patio created, where today we can see an equestrian statue of him by Paul Dubois. He also had seven chapels built, three of which remain today.

His grandson, Henri II de Montmorency (1595-1632), had the Maison de Sylvie built in the grounds. In rebellion against King Louis XIII, he was beheaded in Toulouse in 1632. Chantilly was then confiscated by Louis XIII. It was returned to the Condé family in the 17th century.

In 1643, the Domain of Chantilly became the property of the Bourbon-Condé family. It was at the instigation of Louis II de Bourbon-Condé (1621-1686), known as the Grand Condé, that the grounds benefitted from significant remodelling designed by André Le Nôtre, gardener at Versailles. The Prince was also behind the golden age of Chantilly, which became a prime venue for fashionable society and intellectual intercourse, frequented by famous figures such as La Fontaine, La Bruyère, Bossuet, Mrs de La Fayette, Mrs de Sévigné and Molière, who gave a production of Tartuffe there. The Great Condé held numerous balls and fireworks displays in this enchanting setting.

Louis-Henri, Prince de Bourbon-Condé (1692-1740), prime minister of Louis XV from 1723 to 1726, he had Jean Aubert design the Great Stables for daily hunts. He had the suites of the "Petit Château" painted (by Oudry, Desportes, Huet…) and created the Chantilly porcelain manufactory.

In the 18th century, Louis-Joseph, Prince of Condé (1736-1818), had the Jeu de Paume and the château d'Enghien constructed. In 1774, he had the Anglo-Chinese garden and the Hamlet designed by the architect Jean-François Leroy. Hostile to Revolutionary ideas, he emigrated in 1789 and formed the émigré field army known as the Army of Condé. During the Revolution, the collections were seized as emigrants' belongings and transported to the Louvre.

The château served as a prison, before its main building (the "Grand Château") was totally destroyed in 1799. The grounds were separated into two parts divided into lots. They never recovered their original size, and part of the town of Chantilly was developed in the western part of the original grounds. On his return from exile in 1815, Prince Louis-Joseph began the restoration of the suites and obtained the return of part of the collections from the Louvre. In 1819 he had the English garden designed by Victor Dubois.

Louis-Joseph's son, Louis VI Henri de Bourbon-Condé (1756-1830), who had no heir since the execution of his son the Duke of Enghien in 1804 by Napoleon, bequeathed his estate in 1830 to Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, fifth son of King Louis-Philippe.

Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale (1822-1897), son of King Louis-Philippe, the last King of France, inherited the Domain of Chantilly in 1830. This prince, who was the greatest collector of his time, made Chantilly the showcase for his countless masterpieces and precious manuscripts. Thanks to the precautions taken by the Duke of Aumale in his will, Chantilly remains, more than a century later, a showcase of preserved works where the charm of the 19th century continues to reign.

An exceptional destiny

In 1830, the Duke of Aumale, aged eight, inherited the Domain of Chantilly and a huge fortune from his godfather Louis-Henri-Joseph de Bourbon, the last Prince of Condé.

He thus became one of the most significant landowners in France and was constantly paying tribute to his ancestors and predecessors throughout his life.

As a student at Henri IV high school in Paris, with a bright future ahead of him, the Prince opted for a military career. The Duke of Aumale began his army career in Algeria, distinguishing himself in May 1843 during the capture of the Abd el Kader encampment and became Governor General of Algeria in 1847.

In his function as Governor General he did not forget Chantilly however. During the Monarchy of July (1830-1848), shortly after his marriage to Marie Caroline de Bourbon, he had his private suites in Chantilly decorated by Eugène Lami, had a wooden gallery providing access to them constructed by the architect Duban and was working on a project to rebuild the grand château. But he had to leave France after the Revolution in 1848, when the monarchy was abolished.

Exiled from 1848 to 1871 in Twickenham, near London, his motto became: "I will wait". Considered as the greatest collector of his time, the Duke of Aumale, assisted by skilled advisors, built up a fabulous collection of precious books, paintings and decorative art objects, with which he planned to enhance the family domain in Chantilly upon his return to France.

On his return in 1871, a widower who had lost his two sons at the age of 18 and 21, he had the "Grand Château" (which had been destroyed in 1799 during the Revolution) rebuilt by the architect Honoré Daumet from 1875 to 1885, to house his precious collections.

He then began a political career by becoming deputy for the Oise region in 1871 and he entered the Institut de France* as a member of the Académie Française (French Academy), the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Art) and the Académie des Sciences morales et Politiques (Academy of Moral and Political Science).

With no direct living descendants, he bequeathed the Domain of Chantilly and his precious collections in1886 to the Institut de France, on condition that on his death, the Condé museum be opened to the public, that its layout be preserved and that the collections may not be loaned.

On 7 May 1897, the Duke of Aumale died in his property in Zucco, Sicily. In compliance with his wishes, the domain opened its doors to the public on 17 April 1898 under the name of the Condé museum.

The layout of the collections remains unchanged, the château looks as it did in the 19th century, and provides an opportunity to travel back in time to the heart of a princely residence.

* The Institut de France, created in 1795, brings together Five Academies: the French Academy, the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, the Academy of Science, the Academy of Fine Art and the Academy of Moral and Political Science.