Back on line - day 2

Chantilly - day 2
Ville Princiere
Capitale du Cheval
Leaving Senlis we drove to Chantilly - the home of horse racing in France and the to the vast property of Domaine de Chantilly. The grandeur of the chateau and in particular the stables are mind boggling. Last owned by the Duke of Aumale, son of King Louis-Philippe, he believed he would be reincarnated as a horse so he made the vast stables almost as huge and grand as the chateau.
Unfortunately, records reveal that he came back as Black Beauty and had a pretty rugged time of it in the coalmines in England. Oh well, karma et al. (another Sue comment - she really does have a black sense of humour)
The road into the property is along a cobblestone surface. Saw several cyclists riding thru the grounds, which Sue thought were obviously training for next year’s Paris to Roubaix. In fact the start at Compiegne is not that far away in this region known as Picardie.
Chantilly itself was very quiet and when we got on the A1 for the trip to Chartres we found out where everyone was. It was the first day of a long weekend. May 8 is VE Day, and everyone was heading off for a break. Unfortunately they all seemed to be going the way of Chartres. It was a long, slow and sweaty palmed trip until we got away from the outskirts of Paris and onto the lesser populated roads.
We arrived at Chartres mid afternoon in time for a wander up the hill to the cathedral. I’ve been to Notre Dame in Paris and the cathedrals of Poitier & Albi. This was awe inspiring. So many stained glass masterpieces, and intricate carvings of religious figures and scenes.
That night the historic centre was floodlit for a special occasion and the scene from our hotel room showed the cathedral in all its glory.

The next morning we took the opportunity to take in the market and the general shopping area before taking off to our one week stay in the Loire Valley.

We arrived at our 1st one week stay home in the little rural village of Thenay. it’s a very comfortable 4 room stone cottage of 200 years. The place is in close driving distance of most popular Loire Valley sights and very popular with cyclists.
Unpacked the bike and reassembled it today and then the heavens opened up so decided to enjoy the local wine instead.