Paris1972-Versailles2003

Again looking at my travel ,history books in my library I came upon this time that we visited several times while in living in the area you know where. I am shock that could only find one picture of something near it, but when you live in Versailles , hard to take pictures elsewhere ,,,,,nevertheless, need to have Le Pecq in my blog for the memories of always. Let me tell you about Le Pecq , and hope you enjoy the post as I.

Le Pecq is located in the Yvelines department 78 ,of the Île-de-France region, and my belle France, It is 19 km from Paris, at the foot of the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The town of Le Pecq borders the towns of Mesnil-le-Roi, Montesson, Vésinet, Croissy-sur-Seine, Port-Marly, Marly-le-Roi, Mareil-Marly and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

From Paris, the RER A towards Saint-Germain-en-Laye, get off at Le Vésinet-Le Pecq station,(see post le Vésinet)  turn left after the gates , Also, from the Gare Saint Lazare, take the Train towards Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche – Forêt de Marly, get off at Marly-le-Roi then take local bus 21 towards Le Vésinet – Le Pecq – RER.station, I have dwell by here many times always by car of course, From Paris Porte Maillot, take RN13, cross Le Port-Marly then turn right into the road D186. Connect with the A13 autoroute de Normandie, take exit/sortie n°6 (Versailles Centre, Le Chesnay – Marly-le-Roi), follow direction Louveciennes – Marly-le-Roi, cross Le Port-Marly then turn right D186. From Versailles the D186 is it, Coming from the north or CDG get on A1 highway and take the A86 road exit for Aubervilliers, Nanterre, Stade de France, continue the A86 to Rueil Malmaison, turn right RN13, cross Le Port-Marly then turn right into the D186 to Le Pecq, The main roads here are the departmental road 186 (D186) which allows, on the left bank, to join the national road 13 and the national road 186 at Port-Marly and which, in the direction of the east, Vésinet and Chatou, crosses the Seine river at the Pont du Pecq bridge. The other important routes are the departmental road 190 which begins at the Pecq bridge and provides access to Saint-Germain-en-Laye to the west as well as the departmental road 159 towards Le Mesnil-le-Roi to the north and departmental road 7 towards Marly-le-Roi to the south.

Some of the things to see here are:

The royal residence of Château-Neuf built in 1557 for Henri II was remodeled by Henri IV, who created pavilions, royal apartments on the banks of the Seine. The Pavillon de Sully was occupied by the gardener of the King named Lavechef, known as “Duparcq. The gardens surrounding this private residence have regained their charm of yesteryear as well as their view of the historic valley so appreciated and admired by the kings. The Château Neuf was offered by Louis XIV to the Comte d’Artois, his brother and later king Charles X (1824-1830), . The building was demolished in 1784 for reconstruction. All that remains of the Château-Neuf is the King’s Chapel, the cave ramp and the Sully Pavilion. Many caves were arranged in these terraces such as the caves of Neptune, Hercules, Perseus and Andromeda, etc. Check out the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine or European Heritage Days, when in some years it is open to the public,

The Church Saint-Wandrille stands on the site of a priory founded in the 11C and overlooks the historic heart of Le Pecq. The superb view from the terrace is worth a detour! A charter drawn up in the year 704 records that King Childebert III donated the royal land of Aupec, rich in vines, to the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille at Saint-Wandrille in Normandy. The history of Pecq is linked for eight centuries (from 709 to 1570) to that of the abbey of Saint-Wandrille and to the kings of France. A second church built at the beginning of the 16C collapsed in 1723. The first stone of the current church was laid in 1739 by the Duke of Noailles, then governor of the royal domain of Saint-Germain , and inaugurated six years later, it was only consecrated on May 28, 1995 by Mgr Jean-Charles Thomas, Bishop of Versailles, in the presence of the Abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille de Fontenelle.

You see remnants of the Le Pecq railway viaduct: work dating from the end of the 19C. Comprising about twenty stone arches and extended by an iron bridge over the Seine and by two tunnels, it is laid out in curves and in unevenness to allow the line whose terminus was initially at Pecq to reach the Saint-Germain-en-Laye train station. The Pont du Pecq, officially called “Pont Georges-Pompidou”, is a road bridge that spans the Seine in the town whose territory extends on both banks of the river. This bridge is located between the Ile de la Loge bridge (upstream) and the Pecq railway viaduct (downstream).   In 2002, to maintain the cultural heritage left by the Impressionists in the Yvelines, Le Pecq, with eight other towns bordering the Seine river,such as Carrières-sur-Seine, Chatou, Croissy-sur-Seine, Bougival, Louveciennes, Marly-le -Roi, Le Port-Marly and Noisy-le-Roi, creates the label and the structure Pays des Impressionnistes or Country of the Impressionists, More on the Yvelines dept 78 tourist office in French: https://www.sortir-yvelines.fr/Zoom-sur/decouverte-impressionnistes-yvelines

A bit of history I like

The last Merovingian kings had a royal home at the Abbey of Aupec (Le Pecq). Childebert III gave the monks of this abbey, in 704, the land of Aupec and its outbuildings. They are mentioned for the first time in a charter of Childebert III, king of France, in 704. That year, the king responds, rather belatedly, to a request from Wandrille, formulated in 666 to Clotaire III and confirms to Abbey of Fontenelle a donation made to him by the family of Érembert who became a monk of this abbey. In 1595, Henri IV asked the inhabitants of Le Pecq to cede to him 18 to 20 arpents (0.342 ha/arpent) of land, necessary to extend the gardens of the Château Neuf to the Seine. In compensation, he exempted the local Alpicois from the size and various taxes, a privilege which they retained until the French revolution.

In 1837, the first passenger railway line was inaugurated between Paris and Le Pecq: it is the line from Paris-Saint-Lazare to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. At the time, the terminus of the line was at Port du Pecq, on the right bank of the Seine. In early 2017, the remains of this first station, whose exact location was no longer known, were discovered at the foot of the Georges-Pompidou bridge (known as Pont du Pecq) during work for the construction of a housing complex !

During WWII, on March 3, 1942, Le Pecq was hit hard by a Royal Air Force bombardment. It was long believed that it was a mistake, the English bombers who the same night were to bomb the Renault factories of Boulogne-Billancourt, Le Pecq will undergo three more bombardments. On April 30, 1944, from 23h50, the Cité district was again bombarded for about twenty minutes. On May 28, 1944, this time twelve American Mustangs of the IX USAAF again attacked the Cité and Mexico district. Finally, on June 5, 1944 around 20h45 as a prelude to the Normandy landing, it was the Le Pecq bridge that was targeted.

The town of Le Pecq on its history :https://www.ville-lepecq.fr/decouvrir-le-pecq/lhistoire-du-pecq-2/

The Seine Saint Germain en Laye tourist office on Le Pecq :https://www.seine-saintgermain.fr/en/exploring-saint-germain-boucles-de-seine/le-pecq/

There you go folks, a nice chic very residential town with a nice history and beautiful architecture all over, worth the detour. Le Pecq is one to know, and glad now fully in my blog. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!