the time i visited a Chateau

Traveling has been foreign for most of this year, and I‘m longing so much to explore outside my usual work- home driving route! Reminiscing about past trips only makes me more eager to travel, but I’ve decided to start writing about some of my past adventures to fill in my time-out period of traveling. So here’s the first! This one is going to be about the amazing trip I had last spring to Paris which was hands down one of my highlights of last year. I took a 5 day trip to Paris to meet my two dear dorm mates from university , Aliizee and Rosalie, and explored every little bit of Paris that I could.

My favorite day throughout the trip was when we visited Chateau de Chantilly, an impressive manor house located just north of Paris. I remember how enormous the property was, surrounded by acres of land so spread out that you couldn’t possibly see the far end of!

A view of the Chateau from afar.

Photo credits to Aliizee :)

The exterior architecture of the Chateau was already impressive in itself but the interior design; the small details you could see in each wall, ceiling, and window were immaculate. What was so fascinating about this Chateau was that it offered not only the cultural and historic experience, ( the building is the home to countless paintings and sculptures, some of which date back to the 15th century!) but also provided an outdoor getaway with its beautiful gardens and picnic areas where you could enjoy nature’s beauty. We brought packed lunch so that we could eat out on the benches after we extensively explored the Chateau.

So much green surrounding the area!

The gardens were also the home of many sculptures and animals that it was an exhibition of this own! We saw sheep, ducks, kangaroos (?!), and occasional human sculptures that really added the life to the area. We also stopped by to the open air cafe to eat a delicious dessert of fresh strawberries with the famous Chantilly cream on top. Nothing would have been more perfect to end the day, and the tourists around us seemed to be enjoying it too!

Chateau de Chantilly is a must go if you ever have the chance to visit Paris. It’s only a train ride away from the city central, and you’ll experience a day in the unusual, something we would all appreciate once we’re out of this pandemic.

Happy Sunday and hope you have a good week ahead:)