Epic France Trip – Château de Chantilly – Day 10

It’s my last full day in France, and today’s adventure was the Château de Chantilly!

Why’d I plan to go to this particular castle? Because it’s close to the airport for my last day’s drive, but also because my address (the post office) is Chantilly, Virginia, and I work at Chantilly Library, and it just seems fun. What’s more, I read a recent children’s book set in Chantilly during World War II, The Lions’ Run, by Sara Pennypacker. Also, I purchased a ticket for a Spectacle Equestre – an equestrian show!

The Spectacle was at the Grand Stables.

The original show time was 2:30, but because of the 105-degree forecast, they moved the time to 11:00 am, so that made it easy to start my day by finding my way to the castle, then to the Grand Stables, then to the Spectacle.

I think I misunderstood how much ahead I needed to be there, so I was the third person in line and got one of the best seats in the house.

The show was amazing. Besides the well-trained horses and lavish medieval costumes, there were some skilled acrobats. One lady did amazing feats in midair from two long pieces of fabric suspended from the ceiling. Another man did similar feats on a suspended ring. And he also did multiple acrobatics on running horses. (No photos allowed, but it was incredible.)

It was based on a medieval book about the seasons, but I didn’t need to really understand what was going on – was just amazed by the things the people and horses were doing.

Then I went through the Museum of the Living Horse, also located at the Grand Stables. I saw fascinating stuff, but was disappointed that the restaurant there was closed today.

I made my way toward the castle, and stopped in at an exhibit of paintings from a sister of Napoleon who was a ruler of Naples – but had to leave her paintings behind. And the exhibit rooms were air-conditioned! Which made me more than happy to browse.

Then came a lovely but hot walk through the castle grounds to the Château de Chantilly.

And it turned out the castle itself was a grand exhibit hall. I learned from a video that Château de Chantilly has the second-largest art collection in France – second only to the Louvre. (Who knew?) And those were air-conditioned, too! So I did plenty of wandering.

But alas! The restaurant at the castle was *also* closed for the day. By now, I was pretty sure I should eat. I was told there was another restaurant if I walked across the park. So I set out, and did some exploring while I was at it, staying mostly in the shade.

But after extensive walking in the heat, I realized I’d gone the wrong way, and I’d kind of had enough. Before heading back to my car, I went around to the front of the castle to take some pictures.

Then I stopped at a food stand I’d seen near the parking lot. After I ate a “Pizza wrap,” and drank a cold coke, I also got myself an ice cream cone, which I had to eat extra quickly because it was melting extra quickly – but that wasn’t really a hardship.

And then I headed back to my guesthouse and took off my shoes. Day 5 of my sunburn, and my feet are still in very bad shape. My left foot finally sprouted blisters – or rather, one big mega-blister. But it’s the better, clear-fluid kind that comes before it’s ready to heal, not the nasty bubbling flesh yellow-fluid kind that my right foot has, but is starting to subside. (I’m afraid I have experience with second-degree sunburns, but this one turned out to be much worse than I thought at first. And SUCH a rookie mistake to not put the sunscreen on after I took off my shoes! I still can’t believe I was so foolish!)

Anyway, I did go in the guesthouse pool after I got back, but I was really afraid of more sunburn. So I did lather on sunscreen, but just got myself submerged and then stayed in a somewhat sheltered corner of the pool for a few minutes, and then got out and went back to my room – but it was super effective at cooling me off.

And that was a wrap on my France adventure!

A funny thing hit me while I was driving around yesterday. I think I might be done with rent-a-car-and-jaunt-around-Europe vacations. I have pretty much now checked off the things I especially wanted to see and do – and I might be ready to sightsee with someone else setting the itinerary.

Of course, the beauty of it is that I can decide either way, the next time I’m ready to take a trip.

This one had two major drawbacks: A severe second-degree sunburn on my feet, and a heat dome hitting France that I wasn’t prepared for. But you know what? I had a lovely time anyway, and I’m glad I did the trip.

But I will also be glad to come home tomorrow to my own Chantilly.