Ok so here I am back home literally , always my Versailles. If you have read my blog posts you know why. I am looking at some pictures from my vault and found some new ones of memorable streets of Versailles! Therefore, here they are ; hope you enjoy them as I do.
The Avenue du Général de Gaulle: Notre Dame district (mine !). Most surely the first street you meet while arriving to Versailles. Gives access to the Versailles-Château train station and the bus station, between the first city/town hall of Versailles and the Manège district. Former rue de Berry since 1829, then rue de la Mairie and rue Thiers until 1979. Named for General Charles de Gaulle, liberator of occupied France and president of the French Republic from 1859 to 1969.
Some of the interesting buildings here are
At No 1: city/town hall of Versailles. Former hotel of Marie-Anne de Bourbon, princess of Conti, daughter of Louis XIV, then of the Grand Masters of the royal house under Louis XV and city/town hall of Versailles since 1791 (corner of and main entrance avenue de Paris). No 5: Versailles-Château-Rive gauche RER C station. Inaugurated in 1840 , the railway station, restored in 2014, changed its name in February 2012. It is the terminus of line RER C. Opposite, in place of an old music pavilion, the regional bus station and in particular the coach service (Eurolines) for Portugal. Nostalgic for us as my oldest son worked here at No 6-8: Monumental porch: vestige of the entrance to the old cavalry barracks and the merry-go-rounds destroyed in 1988 to make way for the Maneges shopping center ,it was inaugurated in 1991. On the arch of the barracks portal, the motifs of cannons, crowns, the “LN” for Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte as well as the “N” for Napoleon illustrate its origin. The gate of the carousel has a horse’s head. It is less decorative and smaller than the barracks gate. Then at No 8: Residence Les Hespérides-des-Manèges.
The Rue Hoche: Notre-Dame district (mine !). only 191 meters long. Former street and square Dauphine, de la République, de la Loi, de la Colonne, Napoleon, then Hoche under Louis-Philippe in 1832. Named after Lazare Hoche, born in Versailles rue de Satory, become general of division. He became famous during the French revolutionary wars and the Vendée Wars (including Bretagne), which he pacified . At Place Hoche was the place of public access to wheelbarrows and blue chairs in the 18C and to capital executions as the first hanging in 1788. A statue of Gen Hoche was erected in 1836 and a public garden landscaped in 1853.
Some interesting buildings here I like are
At No 1, 3, 5: old hotel Conti, built in 1765. No 5: Protestant church since 1820 (the current temple was built from 1880 to 1882); former chapel of the repository of the procession of the Blessed Sacrament under the old Regime. High place of theophilanthropy under the French revolution. No 8-10: House with the sign of the Flower basket under Louis XIV. No 14: House of the Francini fountains (before their installation at the Château de Grand-Maison in Villepreux) No. 16: House built by André Le Nôtre, master gardener of Louis XIV, he probably did not live in it and sold it in 1686. Mirabeau stayed there in 1789. The Lycée Hoche One of the many lycées (high schools) in Versailles, but the oldest.
The Rue du Maréchal Joffre: Saint-Louis district. named in 1919. Old rue de Satory named after the hill it crosses to the south. Named after Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army from 1914 to 1916 during WWI.
Some of the interesting buildings here are
At No 1: Former restaurant of the Trois Marches (Gérard Vié moved to rue Colbert then to the Grand Trianon). No 2: Former small vegetable garden of the king (manure and seedlings), allotted in 1736. No 4: Lot attributed to Jean Loustonneau, surgeon of the Children of France, under Louis XV. Awarded in 1864-1869 to the chief medical officer of the military hospital. No 5: House where Mademoiselle de Romans died, one of the mistresses of Louis XV in 1808, from whom she had a recognized son Louis-Antoine de Bourbon. No 7: Home in 1789 for Isaac Le Chapelier, founder of the Breton club which met at the café Amaury, rue Carnot, and associated with the corporate prohibition law which bears his name and which was never applied.
At No 10: Current entrance to the Potager du Roi which was created from 1678 to 1683 under the direction of Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie. Former vegetable garden and orchard of Louis XIV and his successors. A neighborhood police station and housing for employees of the horticultural school were located at the corner of rue Hardy until the 1980s. The construction of craftsmen and traders along the wall of the vegetable garden was eliminated in 1853 and two gates open opposite the streets of Anjou and the Bourdonnais. Headquarters of the National Higher School of Horticulture from 1873 to 1995. Currently and since 1976 National Higher School of Landscape training landscape architects (State diploma in landscaping at the master’s level since 2015), and research master (Theories and approaches to the landscape project) since 2005. The Potager du Roi has been accessible to visitors since 1991 from April to October from Tuesday to Sunday from 10h to 18h, and from October to March on Tuesday and Thursday. (See blog post)
At No 12 Parc Balbi park. Former cul-de-sac in Satory giving access to the entrance to Balbi park. Named after the Countess de Balbi, Anne Jacobé de Caumont de la Force, for whom the Count of Provence, brother of Louis XVI and future Louis XVIII had the park and adjoining pavilion demolished by its owner Claude Cagnion, a merchant, in 1785 for wood, in 1797 In 1792, part of the rare plants was moved to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. In 1842, the land was ceded to the State and to the neighboring Grand Seminary, which turned it into a park with statues and oratories. Then it was rented at the Collége Jules-Ferry (middle school) in 1907. That year a gate with a gate was opened between the park and the Potager du Roi. In 1907 its management was assigned to the School of Horticulture and, in 1986, in part to the city of Versailles as a neighborhood square. Since 2004, the cave and the pond have been open to visitors upon request to the National School of Landscape, which has managed the site since 1996, when the Horticultural School was transferred to Angers. (See blog post)
At No 13: Former dwelling of the family of the Marquis de Lalonde (mayor of Versailles until 1825) entrance to the Saint-Louis cemetery. Depended in 1990 on the college of the Sacred Heart. No 14: Former Hôtel Letellier before the French revolution, then Grand Séminaire in 1833, which became college Jules-Ferry school in 1907 after the Separation of the Church and the State, then Lycée Jules-Ferry (high school), extending in place of the old Denfert barracks across the street. No 15: Corner of rue des Bourdonnais. Cemetery from 1725 to 1776. Purchased in 1890 by the Versailles Provident Society. In 2015 collége Saint-Louis private school. No 19: Former hotel of Choiseul d’Aillecourt. Salon of the Countess of Écotais under the Restoration, then of an American diplomat between the two wars. No 21: In 1990 André-Mignot home for the elderly and inter-age university. No 24: Impasse Satory. A villa built from 1791 to 1804 with a view of the pièce d’eau des Suisses. Convent of Carmelites in 1900, then Grand Seminary in 1906 until 1972. Saint-Louis retirement home for elderly priests and some laymen since 1981 (EHPAD). No 29: Lycée Jules-Ferry (high school). Former hotel of the Duke de la Vrillière in 1772, which served as stables for the Comtesse d’Artois, younger sister of the Comtesse de Provence. They contained 28 cars and 7 sedan chairs. The building then became the Denfert cavalry and infantry barracks, and from 1981 the new Lycée Jules Ferry (high school) with the extension of the building on the other side of the avenue. No 30: Old ice house or coolers in the Satory area which operated until 1879 by the Société des Glacières de Paris. No 37: Land purchased by the Sisters of Hope in 1854; they built a chapel there, now disused, the entrance of which is on the street. Retirement home in 1990. No 39: former home of Jean Chavignat, the queen’s first surgeon and his wife née Simonet des Tournelles, the queen’s maid. No 40: Old Grant for duties closed in 1943.
The city of Versailles on its history in French to get all of it (however go to globe upper right hand and change to several languages): City of Versailles on its heritage
And voilà a few more streets of my beloved Versailles. All full of history and architecture for wonderful walks in town , very pleasant to do. We used to walked a lot and love it, each time went out find out more of our city. It is more than just a palace, lots of history here and the architecture is sublime. Hope you enjoy the tour and do walk Versailles.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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