We Spent Last Night in a French castle!

On Wednesday of last week Melanie suddenly said, "We should go somewhere on Saturday and spend the night." That sounded like a pretty good idea to me so we both got on our computers to do some research.

Since it was going to be such a quick trip we decided to stay pretty close to Paris. I was surprised at how many awesome hotels I found, and even more surprised that so many of them still had rooms available. I guess it's not quite tourist season here yet, but the throngs are getting bigger every weekend so I expected more things to be booked.

After about an hour Melanie and I compared the results of our efforts. It wasn't a contest... but she clearly won. My lovely wife discovered a hotel that used to be an honest-to-goodness castle!

 Château Mont-Royal is a French castle in La Chapelle-en-Serval

We wanted to explore the grounds a bit, but it rained all weekend

The castle is pretty modern, by French standards. In the late 1800's a noted composer named Fernand Halphen bought 12 acres of land in the Chantilly forest. The location was covered with ponds and meadows and his vision was to build a wonderful countryside residence on the highest wooded hillock he could find. He and his wife were both enchanted by the breathtaking view.

Halphen contacted architect Guillaume Tronchet, along with some of the best builders in France, to construct a chateau that celebrated music on the inside and hunting, Halphen's other passion, on the outside. Work began in 1907 and the castle was finished in 1911.

As far as transportation, our initial plan was to take an Uber to the train station, then a train to Orry-la-Ville, and finally a cab from there to the Chateau. But we eventually realized that it would be a whole lot easier (and not that much more expensive) to just take an Uber for the entire trip and that's what we did.

We arrived at about 11:00 AM and were delighted to discover that we could head straight up to our room. (Check-in time is normally 3:00 PM.)

Our room was elegant and we loved the curtains on the wall behind the bed

Our balcony looked out over the Chantilly forest

The lobby was beautiful and on either side of the main desk there were two life-sized horse lamps

After a little exploring we headed downstairs to the "Stradivarius" bar and restaurant. This was clearly some kind of parlor/library at some point, and it was easy for us to imagine a room full of men smoking cigars, drinking wine, and sharing their adventures after a long day of hunting.

We arrived a little early, but the room quickly filled with guests

While we sipped our cocktails, the waiter brought out some exotically spiced nuts

There is a formal dining room at the Chateau, and we had dinner reservations, so we ate a very light lunch. The appetizer I ordered was super good!

Mi-cuit duck foie gras with Jurancon wine, caramelized quince, and lemon hazelnut brittle

Back in the room we just relaxed for awhile and listened to the rain. It was so serene, and a few hours later we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

The rain let up long enough for us to enjoy this sunset

That night we ate dinner at a beautiful restaurant called "L'Opera" and we had a terrific multi-course meal! (Unfortunately, it was kind of dark and some of my pictures didn't turn out.)

The restaurant used to be the grand ballroom!

Filet of Simmental beef cooked a la Rossini, with a rich gravy and truffled pureed potatoes

Roast gilthead bream with shellfish sauce, and a selection of winter vegetables in a Marsala wine sauce

We finished our meal with a delicious array of desserts!

How many people can say they spent the night in a castle? Once again, we are incredibly thankful and humbled by all the things we've been able to see and do in our new home. We can't wait for our next adventure.