During the tragic hours of the Marne the general headquarters were first at Bar-sur-Aube and then at Romilly. The commander-in-chief's intense concentration of mind made him dumb and as though absent in the midst of his colleagues, who received all his orders in writing. In a few days his hair and moustache became perfectly white.
The Allies' grand councils of war were held in this house, which has counted among its guests all the great actors of the war.
The military functions were held on the lawn. The photograph on the next page was taken during a review.
After having seen Joffre's house we pass the few villas which separate it from the Rue d'Aumale and bear to the right, skirting the lawn; next we turn to the left into the Avenue de Condé, then to the right into the Rue du Connétable. In front of the "Grandes Écuries" (great stables), which border the extreme end of the road on the right, stands the equestrian statue of the Duc d'Aumale, by Gérome (1899).
JOFFRE HOLDING A REVIEW ON THE LAWN
Leaving the church we turn to the right, passing through the monumental gateway, and go towards the castle. On the lawn (still keeping to the right) we come to the principal façade of the "Grandes Écuries", Jean Aubert's chef-d'œuvre, built between 1719 and 1740. They are seen on the right in the above photograph.
On the opposite side of the lawn stands a little chapel, erected in 1535, by the high constable Anne de Montmorency, at the same time as six others dotted here and there about Chantilly, in memory of the seven churches of Rome which he had visited in order to obtain the indulgences pertaining to this pilgrimage. He obtained the same grant from the Pope for the chapels of Chantilly.
Of these only two now remain, that on the lawn—Sainte-Croix, and another in the park—Saint-Paul.
The photograph below gives a view of the whole of the castle. The little castle dates from the sixteenth century; the big castle is the work of a contemporary architect, Daumet, who erected it on the basement of the old dwelling, demolished during the Revolution. The Castle of Enghien, built in the eighteenth century, is now occupied by the guardians entrusted with its preservation. The water surrounding the castle teems with centenarian carp. One can get bread from the concierge and, on throwing a few crumbs into the moat, which passes beneath the entrance bridge, watch the onrush of the huge fish.