Seminars, company receptions, weddings and family celebrations for up to 120 seated guests, or 180 standing, are held in the Salle des Étangs at the Château de la Reine Blanche, on the forest road along the Commelles ponds at Coye-la-Forêt, in the Oise. The estate lies in the forest of Chantilly, about 30 minutes from Roissy.
Seminars and company events
The estate presents itself to companies as a place to meet away from the office, with water and woodland on every side. Meetings, seminars, receptions and cocktails take place in the Salle des Étangs. For lunch during a working day, the crêperie L'Etang d'Art is a short walk from the château. Professional events, seminars and team-building programs are run with an exclusive partner, Label Équipée, which organizers can contact for a complete program.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings, baptisms, birthdays, banquets and family meals fill much of the calendar. The partner caterer covers cocktails, served meals, themed buffets, méchoui, barbecue and medieval-style dinners. Hosts who prefer to bring their own caterer can book the estate without one, through a separate reservation line. Exhibitions are also held here.
Rooms and capacities
The event room is the Salle des Étangs, 120 square meters with a proper floor and heating, set on the estate beside the river. It seats 120 people or takes 180 standing. The wedding page mentions two rooms but describes only this one, so organizers who need a second space should ask. The ponds and forest paths are directly outside.
Accommodation
The estate does not offer bedrooms. Guests staying overnight will need hotels in the surrounding area.
Catering
Three options are listed. The partner caterer, Traiteur des Terroirs, handles receptions from cocktails to full dinners. The estate can also be hired without a caterer. The restaurant and crêperie L'Etang d'Art, on the site, serves lunches; it opens daily from April 1 to November 11, weather permitting, and from Friday to Sunday the rest of the year, with concerts on Friday evenings.
History and setting
The ponds were dug in the 13th century by monks of the Abbey of Chaalis to raise fish. Four of them follow one another along the Thève, at the narrowest point of its valley: Commelles (6.5 ha), Chapron (5.55 ha), the Étang Neuf (8.96 ha) and the Étang des Loges (9.95 ha). In the 18th century the small château beside the Étang des Loges became a hunting lodge, and it took the name Château de la Reine Blanche in the 19th century. Writers and painters came here from the early Romantic period, Chateaubriand among them. The site is classified as part of the Domaine de Chantilly, lies within the Oise-Pays de France regional nature park and is listed as a natural area of ecological interest for its wildlife and plants.
Getting there
The address is Route Forestière des Étangs de Commelles, 60580 Coye-la-Forêt. Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport at Roissy is about 30 minutes by road. The nearest railway station is Orry-la-Ville-Coye, on RER line D from Paris Gare du Nord. Ice-cream sellers work the car parks by the ponds in season, a sign of how popular the walk is on weekends, so a weekday visit is quieter for a site inspection.
