I was, by now, quite sick of being in Paris, so I figured I'd take a trip to a smaller town and nature. There's a great forest around Chantilly (pronounced Chantille, and the home of some very expensive whipped cream), but unfortunately, I would not be travelling around the town and the forest on bike, since the 8th turns out to be a holiday, and the place that rents bikes closed early. Sooooo I trecked for several kilometres until I got to the nice big castle and the much larger grounds.

As well as being sick of Paris a little bit, I was a bit sick of looking at the interiors of old buildings, so I opted for the park pass. This was a good idea, and I spent many hours checking out the many beautiful spaces in this estate. The photos, as always, tell the story the best.

Today, I was intent on having a good meal. I tried to get into this one restaurant there that Lonely Planet recommends, unfortunately they'd closed until supper and I wasn't keen on doing nothing for another two hours. So, I went back to Paris the place I'd seen on the first night in Paris: La Maison Rose, in Montmartre. After being lost for a bit and becoming incredibly sweaty after the hike, I made it and ordered the supper menu: French onion soup, some delicious chicken, and crepes a creme chantilly, inspired by my history lesson from the Lonely Planet book. All were quite good, but not as distinctly french as I'd hoped. Oh well. At least I was full :)

-Andrew

What a good weather! It was really perfect for a walk... I wanted to go somewhere new near home and walk around to tan ! :)

The fee to wander in the gardens of the castle is 5 €. It is a very pleasant area, with a little river going all around and nice views of the castle.