Last Saturday it was my pleasure to take Paris Urban Sketcher,
JANE KLARES to see
château de CHANTILLY for the first time (
my 5th visit but there are always new discoveries).
It was
JOURNEES DES PLANTES weekend to boot. Have you been to Chantilly? Only a 20 minute train ride out of Paris on the Picardie line at Gare de Nord and so worth it!
Hundreds of top floral garden specialists show up to tempt you.
My mother would be pleased to see me so entralled with these garden fetes. I used to touch her gardinia petals no matter how many times warned not to. My dad paid me a penny for every beetle I collected off the rose bushes and jarred so maybe I have a green pinkie after all..qui sait?
My favorite citrus supplier was back from last year, OSCAR TINTORI of Pescia, Italy.
Gorgeous huge clay pots.
Whimsical clay pot 'plates' and 'cups' set à table amidst a mossy 'tablecloth'.
Jane was eager to see Chantilly's fabulous collection of art, biggest next to the Louvre in France.
They used to let you enter via the grand stairway, but now they send you outside to climb up tothe original chateau entrance, in fact a better experience.
Very auspicious
With. Jane along I discovered artworks I'd previously missed visiting on my own, like all the Ingres in the red room.
In the past I'd always turned left and missed the 90 Clouet portrait room!
Renaissance artists, Francois and Jean Clouet painted all the kings and queens of Europe, including Francois the 1st, Mary Queen of Scots and Catherine de Medici. The portraits are painted on wood with egg tempera, delicate and refined. There's a slew of 300 Clouet drawings hiding somewhere in the castle, yet to be discovered.
The view out the gallery windows of the LE NOTRE gardens is stunning. Jane tried the French door handle. We would have loved to sketch on the balcony but not this time..
A captivating view back in the 1600s of Chantilly.
We happily parked ourselves outside to sketch
And eat our picnic lunch.
We were not alone. Many families were picnicing along the banks.
Bring your own eats. Food lines can be long and the wait daunting.
Lucky to have perfectly sunny weather, we had Chantilly mostly to ourselves till the royal wedding watchers arrived later on in droves. Ice cream may be a diet no-no but its impossible to resist fresh Chantilly whipped cream at its namesake, oui?
TAKE A LOOK on Etsy for more Chantilly watercolors. And let me know if you'd like to receive Paris mail.
Monet's Giverny gardens await tomorrow.
Xxx Cheers PBers
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Posted By Parisbreakfasts to
paris breakfasts at 5/24/2018 11:47:00 AM
