Part 3

On the opposite side of the lawn stands a little chapel, erected in 1535, by the high constable Anne de Montmorency, at the same time as six others dotted here and there about Chantilly, in memory of the seven churches of Rome which he had visited in order to obtain the indulgences pertaining to this pilgrimage. He obtained the same grant from the Pope for the chapels of Chantilly.

Of these only two now remain, that on the lawn--Sainte-Croix, and another in the park--Saint-Paul.

The photograph below gives a view of the whole of the castle. The little castle dates from the sixteenth century; the big castle is the work of a contemporary architect, Daumet, who erected it on the basement of the old dwelling, demolished during the Revolution. The Castle of Enghien, built in the eighteenth century, is now occupied by the guardians entrusted with its preservation. The water surrounding the castle teems with centenarian carp. One can get bread from the concierge and, on throwing a few crumbs into the moat, which passes beneath the entrance bridge, watch the onrush of the huge fish.

A gay life began again in Chantilly, interrupted in 1650 by the revolt of Condé, his exile and the confiscation of the domain, which then returned to Louis XIV. until the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659). The prince then came into his own again but for long kept aloof from public affairs and devoted himself to the embellishment of Chantilly with the same ardour and mastery that he formerly gave to military operations.

In 1662, the transformation of the park and forest was placed in the hands of the great architect, Le Nôtre. The work continued until 1684. The result was a masterpiece, of which a great part is still in existence, but of which the finest features (particularly the Great Cascades which spread over the actual site of the town) disappeared during the Revolution. Below, we give a view of these "Jeux d'eau" (fountains), which were considered one of the wonders of the day.

In 1671, Louis XIV. spent three days at Chantilly, with all his court. Marvellous festivities were held on this occasion. The guests of the château alone filled sixty large tables; all the adjoining villages were full of officers and courtiers, boarded and lodged at the prince's expense. In one of her letters, Mme. de Sévigné tells of the tragic death of the superintendent, Vatel, who had the responsibility of this vast organisation. Desperate at the thought that fish would be lacking at the king's table, he went up to his room, leant his sword against the wall, and transfixed himself upon it.

All the great men of the seventeenth century visited Chantilly. Bossuet, the intimate friend of the great Condé, presented to him Fénelon and La Bruyère, who became tutor to the Prince of Condé's grandson. Molière and his company came to play (Condé was his patron, by whose intervention the production of _Tartufe_ was allowed). Boileau, Racine and La Fontaine were habitual guests.

The development of Chantilly continued under Condé's successors, and the castle was modified by Mansart. The Duc de Bourbon caused the "Grandes Écuries" to be built by Jean Aubert. He established the manufacture of porcelain there (ceased in 1870), the remaining pieces of which are greatly sought after in our day.

In 1722, Louis XV. stayed at Chantilly on his way back from his coronation at Rheims. The festivities lasted four days; 60,000 bottles of wine and 55,000 lbs. of meat being consumed.

It was Prince Louis-Joseph who saw the Revolution. He had spent enormous sums in embellishing Chantilly, besides the twenty-five million francs which it cost him to build the Palais-Bourbon in Paris, the present seat of the Chamber of Deputies. He erected the Castle of Enghien, named after his grandson, the Duc d'Enghien, who was the first to inhabit it. (Early marriages were usual in these great families: at the birth of the Duc d'Enghien his father was sixteen years old and his grandfather thirty-six.) The Duc d'Enghien died in 1804, shot in the moat of Vincennes.

The English garden and the hamlet are due to Louis-Joseph.

In 1789, after the Prince of Condé had gone into exile, the Parisians came and removed the cannon from the castle (see reproduction of engraving below, in which the castle appears as altered by Mansart). Thirty guns taken from the enemy during the Seven Years' War, which were never used except for firing salutes during fêtes, were brought in triumph to the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, whence La Fayette had them sent to the arsenal.

The great cascades, the menagerie, the orangery and the theatre disappeared during the revolutionary era.

Of the great castle nothing remained but the basement, whilst the town grew and encroached on the park.

In 1814, the Prince de Condé returned to Chantilly and commenced the restoration of the domain, a work continued by his son. The latter came to a tragic end in 1830; he was found hanging from the fastening of a window in his castle of Saint-Leu, and with him died the great family of Condé.

In his will he bequeathed Chantilly to one of his great-nephews: Henri of Orleans, Duc d'Aumale, fifth son of King Louis-Philippe. After distinguishing himself in the Algerian campaign, where he carried off the Smalah of Abd-el-Kader in 1843, the Duc d'Aumale was exiled in 1848. He established himself at Orleans House, at Twickenham, near London, where he remained until 1871. It was during that time that he began the splendid collections which later went to enrich the Condé Museum. On his return to France he presided at the tribunal entrusted with the trial of Marshal Bazaine.

In order to house his collections, the Duc d'Aumale had the big castle rebuilt, on plans made by the architect Daumet, from 1875 to 1882.

He died in 1897, bequeathing to the "Institut de France" the domain of Chantilly and the Condé Museum, of which he was the founder.

The Castle in 1914

About 500 Germans stayed at the castle for twenty-four hours. These reserve troops had not yet fought and did not take part in the battle. They committed no excesses during their short stay. The great moral firmness shown by the curators, Messrs. Élie Berger and Macon had great influence on the conduct of the German soldiers. The troops were lodged in the big castle, whilst the officers established themselves in the various suites of the small castle.

The curators had sent the gems of the collection to Paris and sheltered as many of the works of art as possible in the basement. This proceeding caused some ill humour on the part of the German officer in command. As seen in the photograph (_page 28_) straw was spread in the rooms of the museum, on which the Germans slept. At the end of the room Chapu's touching _Jeanne d'Arc_ overlooks the scene of desolation. The Germans were much impressed by the copy of the Duc d'Aumale's tomb in the museum, where he is represented in the uniform of a divisional general. Many gave the military salute when crossing the room. However, this did not prevent the commandant from warning the curators that if his troops were fired on, the castle would be burnt and they themselves shot.

Sylvie's House

_If the tourist makes this journey on a day when the castle is closed, or if he has not time to visit it, he will at least be able to glance at the charming corner of the park where stands Sylvie's House. He need only take the path of Avilly (it is the road which is on the right of the main entrance) and skirt the park railings. After five minutes' walk he will reach the place from where the view below is taken. He can return to the gates by the same road._

This little shooting lodge, at first called the "Park House," was built in 1604 by the high constable Henri de Montmorency for King Henri IV.

Sylvie is the poetical name given by Théophile de Viau to his patroness Marie-Félicie Orsini, who in 1612, at the age of fourteen, married Henri II. of Montmorency, aged sixteen. The poet, Théophile de Viau, persecuted in 1623 for the licentious publication of the _Parnasse Satirique_, was given shelter at Chantilly and lodged in the Park House.

Condemned to be burnt alive, he was only executed in effigy through the intervention of the Montmorencys.

In his _Odes to the House of Sylvie_, he extolled the grace and goodness of the young duchess:

Mes vers promettent à Sylvie Ce bruit charmeur que les neveux Nomment une seconde vie....

The wish expressed by the poet in these lines was fulfilled and the name of Sylvie became attached to the house and park surrounding it. The great Condé rebuilt the house as it is to-day. (The rotunda seen in the photograph, page 29, was added by the Duc d'Aumale.)

In the eighteenth century Sylvie's House was the scene of the romance of Mlle. de Clermont and Louis de Melun. The head of the house of Montmorency objected to the marriage of his sister, Mlle. de Clermont, with this nobleman, whose rank he considered insufficient. The young girl disregarded this and made a secret marriage, soon ended by the tragic death of Louis de Melun, who was killed by a stag at bay in the course of a hunt in Sylvie's park. These various episodes in the history of Sylvie's House are recalled in the paintings of Luc-Olivier Merson, installed by the Duc d'Aumale when he turned the old house into a museum.

Visit to the Castle

The +Castle+, +Sylvie's House+, the +Jeu de Paume+, and the "+Grandes-Écuries+" _are open to the public from April 15 to October 14_:

1, _On Sundays, Thursdays and legal holidays, from 1 to 5 p.m., free;_

2, _On Saturdays, the same hours, one franc charged for each visitor._

_The +Park+ is open to the public all the year round on Thursdays, Sundays and holidays: from 1 to 6 p.m., from April 15 to October 14, and till 4 p.m. for the rest of the year._

The Condé Museum is extremely interesting.

_We advise tourists to obtain the guide book sold at the entrance, which gives all useful information for the details of the visit. The plan (p. 31) makes it easy to find one's way about the museum. By following the numbering in this plan the various rooms will be seen in the order in which they are marked in the guide book._

The several photographs which follow can give but a faint idea of the richness and interest of the collections made by the Duc d'Aumale.

The following view shows the Gallery of the Stags, formerly the dining room.

The picture on page 32 represents the magnificent carved and inlaid chest (the work of Riesener, the great cabinet-maker), which stands in room 24 (_plan p._ 31).

The Duc d'Aumale gathered the gems of his collection together in the room that he named the +Santuario+ (_No. 19 on plan, p. 31_).

They are: +The Virgin+ by _Raphael_, described as "of the House of Orleans," having belonged to that family for a very long time. This little panel, painted about the year 1506, was bought for 160,000 francs in 1869. It is reproduced on _p. 32_.

+The Three Graces+, another small panel painted by _Raphael_ at about the same time as The Virgin, was bought for 625,000 francs in 1885.

+Esther and Ahasuerus+, panel of a marriage chest, executed by _Filippino Lippi_, was bought for 85,000 francs in 1892.

+Forty Miniatures+ by _Jehan Fouquet_, taken from the _Book of Hours_, by Estienne Chevalier: this leading work of the French school of the fifteenth century was acquired for the sum of 250,000 francs in 1891.

We must also mention the collection of portraits painted or drawn in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, divided between the Gallery of the House (_7 on plan_), the Clouet room (_17 on plan_) and the Gallery of Psyche (_18 on plan_). In the Gallery of Psyche, the visitor will notice, besides the pictures, the forty-four sixteenth century windows, representing the legend of Cupid and Psyche. There is also a cast of the head of Henri IV.

Lovers of jewels should visit the treasure tower (_20 on plan_). Tn the Monkey Parlour (_26 on plan_) will be seen the screen painted by Huet, representing the Monkey's reading lesson, and on the panels a charming eighteenth century decoration, attributed to the same painter.

In the Prince's Gallery (_27 on plan_) the great Condé had a series of pictures painted representing the battles he had fought.

In the trophy containing his sword and pistols there is also a flag taken in the Battle of Rocroi in 1643. It is the oldest standard captured from the enemy that exists in France.

In the middle of the gallery stands the Table of the Vinestock, carved out of one piece taken from an enormous vine, for the Connétable de Montmorency.

In the modern chapel (_31 on plan_), the Duc d'Aumale placed a beautiful altar, carved by Jean Goujon, also some sixteenth century wainscoting and stained glass windows taken from the chapel of the Castle of Ecouen.

In the apse stands the funeral urn which holds the hearts of the princes of the House of Condé.

Visit to the Park

_This takes from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter._

_On coming out of the museum we cross the Terrasse du Connétable_, in the middle of which stands the equestrian statue of Anne de Montmorency, by Paul Dubois (1886). _Leaving the Château d'Enghien on the right we enter the covered way by the avenue which passes before the little chapel of Saint-Paul._ Saint-Paul and Sainte-Croix are all that remain of the seven chapels erected by Anne de Montmorency (_see p. 23_). A little further on, on the left, we come to the Cabotière, a building dating from the time of Louis XIII. It derives its name from that of the barrister Caboud, an enthusiastic amateur horticulturist, who made a magnificent flower garden in the park for the great Condé.

_The avenue ends at =Sylvie's House= (see p. 29)._ In the interior can be seen paintings, tapestries, pieces of furniture, and beautiful panelling of the seventeenth century, which have been placed in the rotunda. From Sylvie's House there is a lovely view of the pond and park (_see p. 29_).

_Leaving Sylvie's House on the right we walk about 150 yards down the path which skirts it, then turn to the left and follow the path which leads straight to the +Hamlet+ (view on p. 35)._

The Hamlet, which recalls that of the Petit Trianon at Versailles, dates from 1775. At this period, under the influence of J. J. Rousseau's works, nature and country life became the fashion, and it was the correct thing for princes to play at peasants in miniature villages.

An author of the eighteenth century thus describes the Hamlet of Chantilly: "Seven detached houses, placed without order, with thatched roofs, stand in the middle of a lawn that is always green. Here is an ancient elm, there a well; further on a fence encloses a garden planted with vegetables and fruit-trees; a mill, its wheel turned by the brook; in front a stable, a dairy; one house is used as the kitchen, another is the dining-room, so decorated as to resemble a hunting lodge. One fancies one's self in the middle of a thick wood, the seats imitate tree-trunks, green couches and clusters of flowers rise from the ground; a few openings made between the branches of the trees admit the light. A third cottage serves as billiard-room, a fourth is a library. The barn makes a large and splendid drawing-room."

From the time when the hamlet came into being, there was never a big fête at Chantilly without a supper in this pretty corner of the park. Innumerable _pots de feu_ illuminated the thickets; on the canal the guests drifted in gondolas to strains of dreamy music; fancy-dress fêtes were held, and the singing and dancing continued until dawn.

The hamlet is now greatly fallen into decay, nevertheless, it is worth a visit.

_Retracing our steps we bear to the left and, having crossed, the first bridge, follow a pretty path which brings us into the flower_ garden of Le Nôtre, where we get a good view of the castle _(photograph above). One can go straight back to the entrance gates by the staircase shown in the view._ It is called the +Grand Degré+ (great stair), and was built in 1682 by the architect Gitard. The groups which adorn the base of the Terrasse du Connétable, on each side of the stairs, were drawn by Le Nôtre and carved by Hardy.

_This walk, from the time of leaving the museum until the return to the entrance gates, takes about three-quarters of an hour._

_If one wishes to visit the +English Garden+ and the +Jeu de Paume+, which will take about forty minutes longer, one must walk past the north front of the castle and follow the walk which opens in the middle of the thickets._

The English Garden was laid out in 1817 to 1819 by the architect Victor Dubois, according to the orders of the last of the Condés, just returned from exile. The site occupied by this garden, like the ground on which stands the town of Chantilly, belonged to the ancient park, devastated during the Revolution.

We pass near the +Temple of Venus+, which shelters a Venus Callipyge of the seventeenth century, near the +Island of Love+, dating from 1765 and on which are statues of Aphrodite and Eros. In the eighteenth century the Island of Love contained a luxurious pavilion, in which nocturnal fêtes were held, the canals and park being illuminated. The pavilion disappeared at the time of the Revolution.

The ancient +Cascades of Beauvais+ that one sees before arriving at the Jen de Paume are remnants of the old park. They were the work of Le Nôtre.

The Jeu de Paume, constructed in 1757, is transformed into a museum. It contains various curiosities, notably Abd-el-Kader's tent, carried away when the Smalah was captured by the Duc d'Aumale in 1843.

_After 3 p.m. one can leave the park by the gate next to the Jeu de Paume. We come out in front of the "+Grandes Écuries+" of the castle and can go in and look round them. (Enter at the side that faces the lawn.)_

=FROM CHANTILLY TO SENLIS= (9 km.)

_Returning through the monumental gateway, we cross the Rue de Connétable and go straight on, skirting the castle park on the right. We cross the Saint-Jean Canal, then the Great Canal, then turn to the right into the High Street of Vineuil._ On the right one soon has a beautiful vista of the castle and park (_view above_).

_We now go through Saint-Firmin._ The church, on the left, contains in its choir Renaissance windows which are classed as historical monuments.

_From Saint-Firmin to Senlis the road is easy. We enter Senlis by the Creil Gate (see plan inserted between pp. 36-37). Turn to the left by the Avenue Vernois and the line of boulevards to reach the station, where starts the itinerary described further on, in Senlis._

SENLIS

ORIGIN AND CHIEF HISTORICAL EVENTS

Senlis is of Gallic origin: it was the capital of the _Sylvanectes_. The Romans surrounded it with fortifications, a great part of which still exist (_see view below_).

The first kings of France, attracted by the hunting in the surrounding country, frequently stayed at Senlis.

It was in Senlis Castle (_see p. 61_) that Hugues Capet was elected king by the assembly of lords in 987.

The Capetians often returned to the birthplace of their dynasty and it is to them that the town owes its chief buildings.

Taken by the peasants in the war of the Jacquerie in 1358, besieged by the Armagnacs in 1418, it fell into the hands of the English and was delivered by Joan of Arc in 1429. Senlis knew great vicissitudes in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.