Fulbright Mid-Year Meeting in Paris (January 26-28)

On January 25 we took the TJV to Paris.  The first day of the meetings for the Fulbright Exchange Teachers, Chateaubriand Fellows and Fulbright Research Scholars was held at the Château de Chantilly, a beautiful  ensemble of 14th to 19th century monuments.  The Petit Château was built in 1560 and houses the apartments of the Princes of Condé (17th and 18th centuries) and the Grand Château built between 1875 and 1885 for the son of Louis-Philippe, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale (1822-1897) who bequeathed Chantilly to the Institut de France in 1886. 

After our meetings we were welcomed by the American Friends of Chantilly and heard about the great work they have done to promote ad renovate the château. The Château de Chantilly has one of the finest museums of historical paintings (after the Louvre) and a library of rare books including the famous 15th century Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry.  We had a fantastic tour of the library and were shown a very special sketch book belonging to Delacroix including the preliminary sketches for his Orientalist paintings.  

The second day of our meetings included very interesting presentations given by the Research Scholars and  Advanced Students describing their research work in France.  That afternoon we visited Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle.  The museum has been closed for 15 years and just re-opened with the original collections of animals from all over the world.  The animals are presented in "Noah's Arc" style rather than in a natural habitat.