Travel does the heart good
Senlis is a city in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. Cute, medieval and charming. It offered us great peek into history: The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. Senlis is situated on the river Nonette. Senlis was known in early Roman imperial times as Augustomagus. During the 3rd century, a seven-meter […]
The Scala dei Turchi is a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle. It has become a tourist attraction, partly due to its mention series of detective stories about Commissario Montalbano. The cliffs lie between two sandy beaches and are a limestone rock formation in the shape of a staircase, hence the name. The latter part […]
Picture this episode: we parked on a roundabout. Some local approached us (my brother and me) – we thought because we should have not park in a roundabout, but then again they all did, so… in fact the guy just wanted to ask if we have cigarettes. Ok Sicily, episode n. At the roundabout is […]
Enna or as the Sicilians would say Castrugiuvanni; is a city located roughly at the center of Sicily, towering above the surrounding countryside. It has earned the nicknames belvedere (panoramic viewpoint) and ombelico (“navel”) of Sicily. At 931m above sea level, Enna is the highest Italian provincial capital. To arrive there is not a piece of cake. Passing the two viaducts Morello and […]
From its dramatic natural surroundings to its historic churches, Sicily has something to offer every traveler. The island of Sicily is a unique part of Italy. Its craggy mountains, wild vegetation, and omnipresent sea have fired the imagination of poets, wayfarers, and visitors alike. Though it is one of 20 Italian regions, its history under […]
Aci Castello and the other Acis around are destinations not to be missed in Sicily, especially for lovers of Greek myths and literature. It is here that the poets Virgil and Ovid gave birth to the myth of Galatea and Aci and their love story. In the second half of 1100 the town was destroyed […]
This is city is one of my favourite places in Sicily. Let me show you its magic! Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian sea, including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south. In 2017 Taormina […]
One of my favourite activities living in Sicily is to go to the beach. Or how they call it here the lido. South of Catania, there is entire spread of different lido’s which are under different concessions. Do not expect a beautiful road to drive through, though. The road is full of bumps, holes, trash […]
is one of Sicily’s prettiest seaside villages: Marzamemi. It consists of couple of shops and bars, with one main square on which are all the restaurants located. In the evening this place turns into a fairy tale. It was the Arabs of the 10th century who put Marzamemi on the map. They not only gave the village […]
According to legend, Daedalus stayed in the city after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as did Hercules after his seventh task – Capture the Cretan Bull. 🙂 In 9th century it was conquered by the Muslims, who elevated the city to become a capital of one of the three districts of the island (the Val di Noto). In 11th century, it became […]
The city’s name has its origins in the neighboring town of Lentini. In 16th century, Vice-King Giovanni De Vega founded a new city in honour of Habsburg Emperor Karlo V, naming it in Latin Carleontini, or Leontini of Carlo. In Italian, it became Carlentini, and in the various Sicilian dialects, Carrintini or Carruntini. They say in Sicily, you can recognise the flavour of […]
This city is placed in such a remote place that even dear Lord decide to say buona notte a tutti. Driving there, through various hills beautiful landscapes but scary landscapes… roads that are incomplete, the GPS that get lost, the moment of: Please let’s try not to make a wrong turn because we are not […]
The Château de Chantilly is one of the finest jewels in the crown of France’s cultural heritage. It is the work of a man with an extraordinary destiny: Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of the last King of France, Louis-Philippe. This historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres north of Paris. The site […]
The Château de Chantilly is one of the finest jewels in the crown of France’s cultural heritage. It is the work of a man with an extraordinary destiny: Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of the last King of France, Louis-Philippe.
This historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s.
The Château survived down through the centuries and remains as it was when the Duke of Aumale gave it as a gift it to the Institut de France in 1886, making it the perfect place to take a journey back in time to the heart of a princely residence. In tribute to his illustrious predecessors, the Princes of Condé, the Duke of Aumale called the series of rooms housing his collection the “Condé Museum”.
This prince, who is considered to be the greatest collector of his time, made Chantilly the showcase for his countless masterpieces and precious manuscripts. Just wait until we enter!
Located on the 1st floor of the Château, the large suites were used as reception rooms by the Princes of Bourbon-Condé. They are a wonderful example of the ceremonial decors in fashion in the 18th century and provide a broad variety of decorative arts, furniture and Old Master paintings. These areas, which were severely looted during the Revolution, were reconfigured in the 19th century by the Duke of Aumale, who collected, acquired and inherited precious furniture and decorative arts from the royal family and the royal châteaux with which he recreated the grandeur and opulence of the time of the Princes of Condé.
The Duke of Aumale designed the art galleries as a showcase for his exceptional collections. He put together the second largest collection of antique paintings in France, after the Louvre Museum. In keeping with the Duke of Aumale’s wishes, the layout of the paintings remains unchanged since the 19th century, providing a unique possibility to travel back in time and discover the typical museography of the time.
The Château de Chantilly houses one of the most extensive libraries France. The treasures accumulated by the various owners of Chantilly were added to and enhanced with passion by the Duke of Aumale, who was the greatest bibliophile of his time. The reading room designed by architect Honoré Daumet at the end of the 19th century forms a showcase for the manuscripts of the princes of Condé and the Duke of Aumale’s treasures.
The art gallery of Chantilly is one of the largest in France. Wandering around I have found some pretty interesting masterpieces that I haven’t expect to be them here:
Then the other halls with more notable people and more collections of noble art. The most shocking to me was the Raphael’s Three Graces. It is the sie of my hand. -.- The painting displays the three Graces, figures from Greek mythology, thought to represent beauty, creativity, and fertility. Raphael paints the three women in the nude (believed to be the artist’s first depiction of the nude female form in both front and back views, lightly embracing each other).
The family was strongly affiliated with the collections of antiquity. I was pretty impressed to see the artefacts from pre-historian times, and ancient Greece and Rome.
Around the castle there is a magnificent park which also contains a French landscape garden with a cascade, pavilions, and a rustic ersatz village, the Hameau de Chantilly. The latter inspired the Hameau de la reine of Marie Antoinette in the Gardens of Versailles.
In the 17th century cook Franà§ois Vatel, who served right in the kitchens of that castle, found himself in full emergency: he had organized a banquet, which should have lasted three days, for the owner of the house, the Duke of Condè, and his cousin Louis XIV, but the food supplies ended earlier than expected, leaving the cook in a big problem. In addition, a large supply of cream was coming with an expedition, but it was a big delay. So, without being too panicky, the chef mixed the little cream available at that time with aromas, creating something new by accident and … arousing the enthusiasm of the guests! So the cream chantilly happened! We had to try it too. On a hot summer day, we combined it with local strawberries and cidre. 🙂
And it was perfect!
RED RIDING HOOD 
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