I was looking in my vault and found me an older picture that for the memories’s sake need to have in my blog, This is not your usual tourist famous destination, but worth the detour for shopping as it was for us. This is an older post that I am updating with new text and links for you and me. Therefore, here is my take on this is Orgeval !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Orgeval is located in the department 78 of the Yvelines in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. It is very close to Poissy and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and not far from Paris only 31 km, Mantes-la-Jolie 23 km, Pontoise 22 km and the capital of the dept Versailles at 22 km. The town is bordered by Crespières and Feucherolles to the south, Villennes-sur-Seine and Médan to the north, Poissy to the east, Les Alluets-le-Roi and Morainvilliers to the west. As said was my family’s hunting ground for shopping, Orgeval is cross by the departmental road D113 (known as the Route de Quarante Sous ), formerly the N13 just below it, the Autoroute de Normandie A13. Which could be a great rest area before arriving or departing Paris, In the north of the town there is the interchange which links the A13 and the D113, and also gives access to the A14, a toll road which leads directly to La Défense. Of course, all these roads are very familiar to me.You can go from the D113 or Route de Quarante Sous on the D45 to city center along the rue de la Gare. The town is served by many bus lines which connect Orgeval to the poles of Les Mureaux, Plaisir – Grignon and to the towns of Poissy, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, La Défense, Verneuil sur Seine and Versailles. Of course, never used them here for info, The most common lines I recalled was the Line Express A14 now call 7822: Vernouillet-Verneuil train station <> Orgeval “Conforama ” <> La Défense Terminal Jules Verne (believe me took this one once on business trip from Verneuil sur Seine to La Défense!) . The nearest train station to Orgeval as it has none is in Villennes-sur-Seine, then Poissy and St Germain en Laye as far as distance. The Villennes sur Seine takes to Paris too.
The town of Orgeval on public transports on the Express A14 bus now 7822: https://www.ville-orgeval.fr/transports/
As said, we used to come shopping and eating here just to get out of Versailles and see our new surroundings; as if Versailles was not enough, lol!. The 40 Quarante Sous business zone in Orgeval is one of the largest in Île de France with about 160 establishments spread out along the road. However, one of the reason we came here often was the old Centre Commercial Art de Vivre, now totally change into the
Centre Commercial White Park. The Art de Vivre was very nice family friendly smallish shopping center consisting of two-stories shopping mall . Several times redesigned, it had as much as 42 stores with a very diverse target: furniture, decorations, leisure, games, perfumery; and large brands known such as
Darty, Casa, Maisons du monde, Nature ,Game, l’Univers du livre, and Bricorama as our favorites. There were also several dining areas, including a Japanese restaurant. And even if the car park has nearly 1,000 parking spaces, it was sometimes difficult to find a place to park. Yes indeed was very popular !!! However, it went into disarray and many stores closed .The Gilbert Joseph bookstore (who took over from the L’Universe du Livre) and the video game specialist Micromania (who took over from Game) ,also later closed down Now, there is still a Darty, Cultura, as interesting stores and other spread out along the road like Conforama, Not the same as before, but still a shopping/rest stop,
We came regularly because my twin boys getting into the hotel/restaurant business as their older brother had their first work test at the Ibis Budget Hotel in Orgeval, and still there ! The experience for the boys was very nice with very friendly staff at the hotel , one for the memories even if by then photos were not important. And one reason we came other than shopping , with many nice family memories ,never to be forgotten. A very good stop on your rounds Paris to Normandy. The official Ibis Budget Orgeval
: https://all.accor.com/hotel/3586/index.en.shtml
Other things to see in Orgeval are: Parc de la Brunetterie . The demolition of the castle of Brunetterie in 2017 and the restoration of the park on the domaine de Brunetterie. The Church Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul. The Royal Abbey of Notre-Dame d’Abbecourt was closed during the French revolution of 1789 and then used as a stone quarry. Only the toponym remains, “Allée d’Abbecourt”. The current study, carried out thanks to donations from members, individuals, the participation of the town of Ogeval , Heritage associations, already allows them to have a good overview of what was the Abbey of Abbecourt. Also, the Chapel Saint-Jean.
A bit of history I like tell us that the first mention in history of Orgeval was the foundation of the Notre-Dame d’Abbecourt abbey in 1180 by Gasce de Poissy, suzerain of Orgeval. This men’s abbey, which belonged to the diocese of Chartres, located near the Hôtel du Moulin d’Orgeval, was destroyed around the beginning of the 19C. Orgeval nowadays has a church of Romanesque architecture from the 11C with an spire and an octagonal tower. The nave is from the 16C. Joan of Arc went there to deliver Poissy and gold was searched there in the early 17C.
The city of Orgeval on its heritage: https://www.ville-orgeval.fr/patrimoine/
The city of Orgeval history on its history: https://www.histoire-orgeval.fr/pages/histoire-locale-orgeval.html
There you folks, I feel better now, to give credit to another nice spot in my world. Orgeval in my former wonderful Yvelines, all appreciative of knowing them and remember well. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Orgeval !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 