THE JACQUE MART-ANDRE MUSEUM IN THE ABBEY ROYAL OF CHAALIS

In a huge 16th century park, with canals, ornamental ponds and a rose garden (a former monks' cemetery) lie the romantic ruins of a gothic abbey and its chapels, with their Renaissance frescoes.

The Abbey Museum is situated in a cloistered wing of the abbey, transformed into a chateau in the middle of the 19th century. The Museum's long galleries and the vast monks' Room of Silence house an impressive co lection of gothic, Renaissance, 17th and 18th century furniture and a beautiful collection of Primitif " paintings from the 18th century. The Indian and Burmese collections have only recently been opened to the public.  On the recently restored first floor are magnificent private apartments.  One gallery contains the possessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.