Ile-de-France region
Departments: Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val de Marne, Val d'Oise, Yvelines.
Population: 12.27 million (2023)
Prefecture: Paris
Area: 12,011 km2
Specialities: Paris ham, Paris mushrooms, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, Coulommiers, Paris-Brest, Meaux mustard, Argenteuil asparagus, Gâtinaise chicken, Houdan chicken.
Sports clubs: Paris Saint-Germain, Paris FC, Red Star (football), Racing Club de France (Lagardère Paris Racing), Racing 92, Stade Français (rugby and multi-sports), Paris Saint-Germain, Ivry, Tremblay, Pontault-Combault (handball)
Competitions: finish of the Tour de France, Roland-Garros, Six Nations Championship, 2024 Olympic Games, 2019 Women's World Cup, Paris-Bercy Tennis Masters. Racecourses (Auteuil, Longchamp, Saint-Cloud, Maisons-Laffitte, Vincennes)
Festivals: Banlieues Bleues, Solidays, Rock en Seine, Fête de l'Humanité, Suresnes Cité Danse, Paris Plage, Fête des Loges, Foire du Trône.
Economy: leading European region in terms of GDP. Tourism (Paris is the world's leading destination), government, universities, commerce and services, automotive, energy, research, luxury goods industry.
Tourist attractions: Paris (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Orsay, Orangerie, Quai Branly and Pompidou museums), Saint-Denis Basilica, palaces of Versailles, Fontainebleau, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Vincennes, Vaux-le-Vicomte and Rambouillet. Provins medieval town.
Websites and social media: www.iledefrance.fr
YVELINES (78)
Population: 1.48 million
Prefecture: Versailles
Sub-prefectures: Rambouillet, Mantes-la-Jolie, Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Area: 2,284.4 km²
Specialities: Paris Brest, artisanal syrups, chocolates, the Noyau de Poissy distillery, award-winning cheeses and yoghurts from the Coubertin farm or Viltain, several breweries including La Volcelest in the Chevreuse Valley, the professional vineyard "La Bouche du Roi" in Davron, I-Grec yoghurts, Les Deux Gourmands biscuit and honey factory (also awarded at the Salon de l'Agriculture), more than 120 local producers and artisans. Monstrueux (spinach) from Viroflay.
Sport: The leading sporting department in the Île-de-France region with nearly 400,000 licensed athletes and 3,000 sports clubs; numerous sporting events each year, such as the start of the Paris-Nice cycling race, Paris Saint-Germain training sessions, and the final stage of the Tour de France, which starts in Yvelines. The Yvelines was the host site for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games: track cycling (National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), mountain biking (Elancourt hill), BMX (National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), golf (Golf National in Guyancourt), equestrian events and modern pentathlon (Gardens of the Palace of Versailles).
Economy: Leading department in private R&D in the Île-de-France region with nearly 40 research laboratories, including 8 international partners, and 17,500 researchers in many fields: automotive and mobility, aeronautics, aerospace, new technologies, biomedicine and health, etc. Leading industrial department in the Île-de-France region with 106,000 businesses representing more than 400,000 jobs; sectors of excellence (automotive industry, aerospace industry, eco-industries, ICT); tourism (in 2019: 2.5 million hotel nights in 2019, 3.1 million tourists in the Yvelines, €823 million in tourist spending generated in Paris and Île-de-France by tourists who stayed mainly in the Yvelines)
Notable sites: Palace of Versailles, Rambouillet Castle, Saint-Germain-en-Laye Castle, Madame Elisabeth's estate in Versailles, La Madeleine Castle in Chevreuse, Breteuil Castle, Chevreuse Valley, French Vexin Park, Marly-le-Roi royal estate, Villa Savoye in Poissy, House of Zola in Médan, Maurice Ravel Museum House in Montfort-l'Amaury, Maurice Denis Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, houses of Jean Monnet in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne and Léon Blum in Jouy-en-Josas, Collegial churches of Mantes-la-Jolie and Poissy, Zoo of Thoiry, etc. The top 10 most visited sites in Yvelines also include: Île de Loisirs in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Trappes, France Miniature in Elancourt, Gally farm in Saint-Cyr-l'Ecole, National Sheep Farm in Rambouillet and Espace Rambouillet in Sonchamp.
Festivals: Yvelines Cinéma (August), Electric Park Festival (September, Chatou), Thoiry Lumières Sauvages lantern festival (from October, Thoiry), Pulsations Festival (September, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), Electrochic (March, Versailles Grand Parc), the Maki festival (June, Carrières-sur-Seine), Jazz à toute heure (March), Fête des Loges in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (late June to mid-August), Fantaisies Musicales, Opéra d’été (September), Journées Ravel (October), Blues sur Seine (November), National flea market and ham fair.
Websites / FB / Twitter: https:/ / www.yvelines.fr/ / www.yvelines-infos / Facebook: @Yvelines.78 / Twitter: @Les_Yvelines / Linkedin: Département des Yvelines / Instagram: @les_yvelines
/ www.sortir-yvelines.fr / https:/ / www.facebook.com/tourisme.yvelines/ / https:/ / www.instagram.com/ytourisme/?hl=fr / Facebook: @tourisme.yvelines / Twitter: @Ytourisme / Instagram: @ytourisme
Km 5.9
Boissy-sans-Avoir (Pop. 620)
Actress Romy Schneider (1938–1982) is buried in Boissy’s cemetery alongside her son David, who died a year before her. The actress had a country house in the village.
Romy Schneider
Rosemarie Magadalena Albach, better known by her stage name Romy Schneider, was born in 1938 in Vienna, just a few months after Austria was incorporated into the German Reich. She grew up in Berchtesgaden, close to the Berghof, Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat. Her parents were close to the Nazi regime and her mother, actress Magda Schneider, is suspected of having had an affair with the Führer. She made her first film in 1953 with her mother, who encouraged her to accept the role of Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, Empress of Austria. Three films featuring Sissi made Romy Schneider an international star at the age of twenty. Refusing to shoot a fourth instalment of the saga, she went to Paris to take on more serious roles. Luchino Visconti, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Alain Cavalier, Orson Welles, Bertrand Tavernier... Romy Schneider worked with the greatest filmmakers of her time. She played a series of luminous, tragic and melancholic women. She formed a special relationship with director Claude Sautet, with whom she made four films that have become classics: César and Rosalie, Max and the Junkmen, The Things of Life and A Simple Story, which earned her a second Cesar Award for Best Actress in 1978 after Andrzej Zulawski's The Most Important Thing: Love. Her relationships with Alain Delon, to whom she remained close throughout her life, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Jacques Dutronc made headlines, and she married director Harry Meyen and then journalist Daniel Biasini. These unions produced two children, David Meyen and Sarah Biasini. But her life was also marked by tragedy: kidney cancer and the suicide of her first husband in 1979. Two years later, her son David died in an accident. On 29 May 1982, ten months after this fatal accident, the actress was found dead in her Paris apartment by her partner at the time, producer Laurent Pétin. She was only 43 years old.
Km 11.6
Neauphle-le-Château (Pop. 3,250)
The town made headlines between October 1978 and February 1979 when it welcomed Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been expelled from Iran. The property where Khomeini resided, on Route de Chevreuse, was fenced off and closed to the public for a long time, and the house has now been demolished. In Tehran, the street where the French embassy is located has been renamed Rue Neauphle-le-Château. It was in Neauphle-le-Château that the Grand Marnier distillery was founded in 1827, producing the rum and orange peel liqueur of the same name. The factory was closed and relocated in 2012. The village has inspired novelists, as Marguerite Duras and Madeleine Chapsal both lived there.
Km 15
Jouars-Pontchartrain (Pop: 6,040)
Jouars-Pontchartrain attracted the film world, as it was home to actor Robert Dalban, one of the greatest supporting actors in French cinema (see Les Tontons flingueurs), producer Alain Poiré and director Yves Allégret, Simone Signoret's first husband, who all lived and died there.
Pontchartrain Castle
Construction: 17th century.
Style: classical.
History: at the beginning of the 14th century, there is mention of a manor house on the site of the current château. In the 16th century, the château was surrounded by moats and had a drawbridge. It has belonged to the Coignet family since 1557. At the beginning of the 17th century, the château was purchased by the Phélypeaux family, who henceforth called themselves "de Pontchartrain". For five generations, its members were appointed to the highest royal offices. The château was enlarged and embellished. Frère Romain, Le Nôtre and other artists of the time participated in the work. In the 19th century, the château passed from hand to hand: Claude Carvillon Destillières, the Marquis d'Osmont, the Prussian Count Henckel von Donnersmarck, Auguste Dreyfus and his wife, the Marquise de Villahermosa. Upon her death in 1934, the château was sold to the Lagasse family. It was finally purchased in 2019 by a real estate group to be sold off piece by piece. All of its furniture and archives were auctioned off and dispersed.
Current use: sold to a private group, after renovation it will house some 80 luxury apartments for wealthy clients. The listed park and all the green spaces around the château will be preserved.
Listed as: historic monument in 1979.
Km 18.4
Plaisir (Pop. 31,810)
Known since the early Middle Ages in its current form, the town of Plaisir has been inhabited since Gallo-Roman times. Formerly an agricultural village, it underwent rapid development in the 19th century, particularly with the arrival of the railway. But it was after the 1960s that the population exploded and the town took on the appearance we know today. This rapid urbanisation has not prevented the town from preserving a significant amount of nature in its centre and surrounding areas. In 2020, Plaisir hosted the grand départ of Paris-Nice, with the first stage won by Maximilian Schachmann, who went on to win the race.
Château de Plaisir
Construction: 17th century.
Style: Louis XIII.
History: The first mention of Plaisir Castle dates back to the late Middle Ages, but it was around 1620, during the reign of Louis XIII, that the current castle was built by Simon Le Tellier, the king's physician and advisor. His son continued this work by creating a classic French-style park. In the 18th century, the château passed through the hands of several families and was remodelled between 1700 and 1711 under the direction of the Comte de Pontchartrain. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the château changed hands frequently until it was acquired in 1930 by the Bourdel family. In a state of disrepair, it was acquired by the town hall in 1976.
Current use: since 1977, Château de Plaisir and its grounds have been open to the public as a place for walking and cultural events. Numerous theatre, music and dance evenings are programmed at the Robert Manuel Theatre.
Listed as: historic monument in 1961.
Km 20.4
Élancourt (Pop. 26,000)
France Miniature
Miniature park located in Élancourt, open since 1991. The park comprises 117 French monuments and sites, reproduced in miniature on a scale of 1:30, covering an area of five hectares, laid out in the shape of a map of France with ponds in place of the seas and oceans bordering the country and the island of Corsica. The estate is criss-crossed by numerous miniature railway tracks on which trains composed of models reproducing SNCF rolling stock (TGV, Corail trains, etc.) run. Since 2004, a self-service attraction area has been reserved for young children.
Km 21.3
Trappes (Pop. 33,400)
The arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century gradually transformed Trappes into a railway town, home to many railway workers. The village then changed into an industrial centre, attracting workers from the provinces – notably a large Breton community – and then, after the Second World War, from around the world. Trappes became the archetype of a social housing suburb with its tower blocks and large immigrant population, but since the beginning of the 21st century it has undergone a major renovation and regeneration programme. Trappes was the starting point for the first edition of the legendary Paris-Brest-Paris cycle race in 1891. Some big names in football – Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka – and entertainment – Omar Sy, Djamel Debbouze, Sophia Aram – grew up in Trappes.
Les Dents de scie
Construction: 1926 to 1931.
History: the Dents de Scie workers' housing estate was designed by architect Henry Gutton and his son André. The forty terraced houses were built near Trappes station as they were intended for railway workers. The houses are detached, each with four rooms measuring 66 m² on a semi-underground basement, with a private garden accessible from the inside. Thanks to the efforts of the residents and the local council, the houses were renovated instead of being demolished as originally planned and were listed as historic buildings.
Characteristics: the architects were inspired by German designs that applied the theories of minimum housing and the hygienist movement. The aim was to provide residents with modern comforts in functional spaces. Each house has a garden, water points and a laundry room. The houses are set at a 45° angle along a public road, hence the name of the estate. The buildings were originally made of brick but were clad with plasterboard in 1938. The Cité des Dents de Scie incorporates some of the architectural features described by Le Corbusier in Modern Art: the roof terrace, the pilotis, and the free façade without beams or pillars.
Listed as: historic monument in 1992. 20th-century heritage.
Km 30
Saint-Cyr-l’École (Pop: 18,800)
The Saint-Cyr military academy is one of six defence academies (former military academies) run by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, located in the commune of Saint-Cyr-l'École. The school buildings have a particularly rich historical past: they were preceded by the Royal House of Saint-Louis, the Military Prytanée and the Special Military School. The school's mottos are "Better to die" and "The true school of command is therefore general culture". In 2020, Saint-Cyr-L'École hosted the first stage of Paris-Nice, won by Ireland’s Sam Bennett. The town was also home to the Aeronautical Institute, where Bernard Hinault worked on aerodynamics in the 1980s under the guidance of Professor Ménard.
Military High School Museum
The Military School of Saint-Cyr has a long history. Housed in the former Archives Pavilion, the Museum traces the history of the site since its creation by Madame de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV. At the time, the school's purpose was to educate young girls from noble families who had fallen on hard times. The site later became a military hospital, then a military academy, before giving way to a special imperial military school, then a secondary school, and finally a military academy in 1983.
Km 35.3
Versailles (Pop. 86,000)
The prefecture of Yvelines owes its reputation above all to its palace, undoubtedly one of the most famous in the world. It is still in Versailles that deputies and senators meet in congress at the palace to ratify any amendments to the constitution. Located 17 km from Paris, the city is mainly residential and tourist-oriented but has a fine university infrastructure. Louis XIV, the Sun King, imagined the destiny of Versailles and its château with the highest ambitions. Its key role in French history is also accompanied by an ongoing relationship with the Tour, which set off from the château in 2013 for the final stage of its 100th edition. In 1989, a time trial starting in Versailles gave rise to a royal battle between Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond. The time trial to the Champs-Élysées ended with the closest finish in history: eight seconds ahead in the final overall classification for the American. Previously, the royal city had been the starting point for the final time trial of the Tour de France eight times, putting Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocana on the road to success. The palace
Construction: 17th century
Style: classical
History: Louis XIII's former hunting lodge was transformed and enlarged by his son Louis XIV, who established the French court and government there in 1682. Until the French Revolution, successive kings lived there, each adding their own embellishments to the palace. The Hall of Mirrors, the King's grand apartments, the Museum of French History: over the centuries, the Palace of Versailles, seat of power until 1789, continued to expand.
Charactetistics: the Palace of Versailles is one of the finest achievements of 17th-century French art. In the 1670s, Louis XIV had the King and Queen's grand apartments built. The most emblematic of these spaces, places of parade and reception par excellence, remains the Hall of Mirrors designed by Mansart. In the following century, the enlargements continued, notably with the construction of the chapel and the opera house. Today, the palace covers 63,154 m² and has 2,300 rooms. Although it lost its role as the official seat of power in 1789, it took on a new destiny in the 19th century: becoming a museum of French history, as desired by Louis-Philippe, who ascended the throne in 1830. Many rooms in the château were then used to house new collections retracing the major events in French history, which were added to until the early 20th century. Lisetd as: Historic Monument since 1862, then 1906 and 1964. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Grand Trianon
Construction: 1687
Style: Classical
Characteristics: the Grand Trianon was built by Jules Hardouin Mansart in 1687 on the site of the "Trianon de Porcelaine", which Louis XIV had built in 1670 to escape the pomp and ceremony of court life and to harbour his love affair with Madame de Montespan. The Grand Trianon is undoubtedly the most refined group of buildings in the entire Versailles estate. Mansart described it as a "small palace of pink marble and porphyry with delightful gardens", following the instructions of Louis XIV, who was closely involved in its construction. Strongly influenced by Italian architecture, this palace is spread over a single level. Renowned for its orderly, geometric French gardens, the "Marble Trianon" has been surrounded by tens of thousands of perennial and tuberous plants since its construction.
Listed as: Historic Monument since 1862. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
Marie Antoinette's estate
From the Petit Trianon to the Queen's Gardens, via the hamlet, the estate, which opened in 2006, reveals the private life of Marie Antoinette. The wife of Louis XVI loved to come here to enjoy the pleasures of a simple, country life, far from the pomp and splendour of Versailles. She was the only queen to impose her personal taste on Versailles, flouting the old court and its traditions to live as she saw fit. In her Trianon estate, which Louis XVI gave her in 1774, she found a haven of privacy that allowed her to escape etiquette. No one could enter without her invitation.
Km 39.2
Viroflay (Pop. 16,139)
Known for its "monstrous" variety of spinach, long specific to the town, Viroflay is now a large, upmarket residential suburb of the capital.
Km 40.4
Vélizy-Villacoublay (Pop. 23,000)
The town is known for its aerodrome, created in 1910, where the most famous pioneers of aviation (Clément Ader, Louis Bréguet) took flight. In 1936, it became the Villacoublay 107 military air base.
HAUTS-DE-SEINE (92)
Population: 1.65 million
Prefecture: Nanterre
Sub-prefectures: Antony, Boulogne-Billancourt
Area: 176 km²
Specialities: Levallois-Perret honey, Suresnes vineyards.
Sport: Top 14 and Champions Cup with Racing 92 (rugby), Paris 92 (women's handball), Betclic Elite and Eurocup with Nanterre 92 (basketball), Betclic Elite and Eurocup, Boulogne 92 (rowing), BLR92 (foil fencing), Metropolitans 92 (basketball), Hauts-de-Seine > Paris crossing, Horse Day at the Jardy Stud Farm. Figaro Cross Country Race at the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud.
Heritage: Grande Arche de la Défense, Paris La Défense Arena, Seine Musicale in Boulogne, Tour aux Figures in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Mont-Valérien Memorial in Suresnes, Ile-Saint-Germain Departmental Park in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Ile-de-Monsieur Departmental Park in Sèvres, Domaine Départemental de Sceaux, Albert Kahn Departmental Museum, Vallée-aux-Loups Departmental Estate - Maison de Chateaubriand, Saint-Cloud National Estate, Malmaison National Estate, Sèvres Manufacture and Ceramics Museum, Rodin Museum in Meudon, Jardin des Métiers d'Art et du Design (Sèvres/Saint-Cloud)
Festivals and cultural events: Hauts-de-Seine Chorus Festival, La Défense Jazz Festival, Rock en Seine Festival, Sceaux Orangerie Festival
Economy: La Défense business district (16,000 employees, 400 private companies, 20,000 residents, 17,000 students)
Websites and social networks: www.hauts-de-seine.fr / @hautsdeseine.fr / www.facebook.com/hautsdeseine.ledepartement/
Km 41.4
Chaville (Pop. 20,320)
Chaville is well known to cycling fans for having hosted the Paris-Tours classic for nine years between 1979 and 1987, which was renamed Blois-Chaville and then Créteil-Chaville. Joop Zoetemelk, Sean Kelly and Phil Anderson were among the winners in Chaville.
Km 43.1
Sèvres (Pop. 23,250)
Cité de la Céramique
An international centre for the "arts of fire", its mission is to support contemporary creation and make collections accessible to as many people as possible. The 120 ceramists at the factory produce ceramic art objects, reissues of old models and contemporary creations using traditional techniques. Cité de la Céramique hosted the start of the final stage of the 2015 Tour de France, won on the Champs-Élysées by André Greipel.
Km 44
Meudon (Pop 45,300)
Meudon developed around the church dedicated to Saint Martin. Meldun became Melodunum, then Meudon at the foot of the castle that dominates the village. In the 16th century, a vast pleasure palace replaced the fortified building and became the love nest of King Francis I and his mistress Anne de Pisseleu. The 19th century was a time of change for Meudon. The observatory gazed at the stars, the Office of Inventions tracked down technical innovations, Captain Charles Renard made the world's first closed-circuit flight aboard the airship La France at Hangar Y, and Marcellin Berthelot discovered the secrets of plant chemistry. Artists were hard at work: Auguste Rodin brought beauty to life through his sculptures, Isadora Duncan danced, Richard Wagner composed The Flying Dutchman, and painters tirelessly painted the bucolic landscapes of the Seine. In the 20th century, Meudon-la-Forêt sprang up from the fields, Renault colonised the Île Seguin, and cutting-edge technologies replaced assembly lines on the banks of the Seine. Artists continued their quest: Jean Arp invented abstract art, Alberto Magnelli assembled colours and shapes, Marcel Dupré improvised, Céline cried out in despair, and François Stahly sculpted monumental fountains. Great architects were not to be outdone and turned Meudon into a laboratory: Prouvé, André Bloc, Van Doesburg. In 1986, the town hosted the start of a team time trial won by Laurent Fignon's Système U team. In 2018, Arnaud Démare won the first stage of Paris-Nice, which started from Chatou.
Km 46.4
Issy-les-Moulineaux (Pop. 68,000)
The town of Issy-les-Moulineaux is best known to cycling fans as the former headquarters of the Tour's organising company, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), before it moved to Boulogne-Billancourt. The newspaper L'Equipe and many media outlets accredited to the Tour de France had their offices in the town, particularly in the Val de Seine basin, a huge office complex dedicated to the media and new technologies. The town has a rich cycling history: its Palais des Sports is named after Robert Charpentier, a local rider who won the Olympic road race in 1936 ahead of Guy Lapébie. Charpentier took part in the 1947 Tour, but the war had deprived him of a professional career commensurate with his amateur career. Issy-les-Moulineaux is also the town of Thierry Adam, who was for many years the Tour commentator on France Televisions. The town, which was formed from the merger of the villages of Issy and Les Moulineaux, was also a stronghold of aviation in its early days, as indicated by several streets and places (Guynemer, Voisin) dedicated to flying aces.
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