Crème Chantilly
The main reasons I chose my specific abroad program, which is run jointly by UMass and Academic Programs International, is that it allowed me, firstly, to enroll directly in a French university and, secondly, to participate in a number of organized outings and excursions.
We’ve had tours of Parisian neighborhoods, trips to castles, a night at the opera, and more. And we still have more to come.
One of the first excursions we had was to the near(ish) Château de Chantilly. Even having seen it with my own two eyes, it’s almost hard to believe it was real. An hour long bus ride on a Sunday morning and then we pull up to this:
Unreal. We toured the inside, which actually houses the Musée Condé.
The museum contains over 30,000 documents and texts (link in French) from the 19th century alone, most of which belonged to Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale and were used in his military work. They also have the largest collection of illuminated works from the 15th and 16th centuries.
We also toured les Grands Apartements, the residential portion of Chantilly, but I was feeling quite sick that day and had to step outside for some fresh air, so I didn’t get many photos.
