Fodor's Expert Review Parc du Château de Chantilly

Le Nôtre's park is based on that familiar French royal combination of formality and romantic eccentricity. The former is represented in the neatly planned parterres and a mighty, straight-banked canal; the latter comes to the fore in the waterfall and the Hameau, a mock-Norman village that inspired Marie-Antoinette's version at Versailles. You can explore on foot or on an electric train, and, in the warmer months, take a rowboat for a meander down the Grand Canal.