This is Vélizy-Villacoublay !!!

Posted in Food and Wine, France

I am caught up in nostalgia, not big tourist attractions but more of the every day life of a family in France . We tend to deal with glorious spots on travels and many times forget what we have at home. Well , my home back then was Versailles... not a shabby place ,but around it were many towns of little tourist attractions that were very memorable for our family. I like to update this older post with new text and links for you and me and in my black and white series, no pictures, Therefore, here is my take on this is Vélizy-Villacoublay !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

What we came here and know the town was for shopping from our beloved Versailles. The Velizy II or now Westfield Velizy 2 has 156 stores which are favorites were Auchan, Boulanger, C&A, Comtesse du Barry, FNAC, H&M ,Jeff de Bruges,Lacoste, Louis Pion, Micromania, Montre Service, Orange, Pharmacie du Centre, Printemps, UGC Cinemas, Yves Rocher, and restaurant Big Fernand, Brioche Dorée, Burger King, Old Wild West, and Paul. However, our favorite was El Rancho (now gone) tex mex resto ,we had some fun family times there and remember it well, just for the memories that will never go away, The shopping center is at 2 Avenue de l’Europe and you can get there as we did by car from the palace/museum on avenue de Paris go up towards rue des Etats Generaux direction gare de Chantiers becoming rue des Chantiers, same road name Rue du Pont Colbert and get on the road N12 direction Meudon to become the A86 exit/sortie 4.1 ZA Villacoublay to get on the road N118 direction Paris; take exit/sortie 3, just follow the signs to Centre Comercial Vélizy II.

The city of Vélizy-Villacoublay is since January 1, 2016, part of Versailles Grand Parc (VGP), a French intermunicipal structure located in the departments of Yvelines (78) and Essonne (91), in the Île- de-France region. The town is located 15 km from Paris and 8 km from Versailles. Vélizy-Villacoublay is about 15 minutes by car via the N 118. The town is served by the A86, the RN 118 and the RN 12 roads. In 2024, the town is served by a new A 86 interchange at Vélizy 2 shopping center.

The city of Vélizy-Villacoublay is served by: RER C trains at Chaville – Vélizy station, in the town of Viroflay; Tramway T6, with 7 stations in the town; the Phébus bus network organized by Île-de-France Mobilités and operated by the bus network Keolis Vélizy Vallée de la Bièvre Île de France Mobilité (just put the name of the town or stop in « Lieu de Passage « ) : https://me-deplacer.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/fiches-horaires/bus?line&transporter

A bit of history I like tell us that formerly Vélizy was only a simple hamlet in the village of Ursine, a village which was in the middle of the woods. Ursine, or Ursines, was erected as a parish in the 13C. The territory was made up of three distinct lordships, Vélizy, Villacoublay and Ursine, mentioned from the 11C, which, in the Middle Ages, were the properties of the Hôtel-Dieu de Notre Dame de Paris. It was then the Louvois family, already the owners of the lordships of Chaville and Meudon, who gradually acquired these territories. In 1674, when Louvois had bought the lordship of Chaville, he had the church, which was at Versailles, transported to Vélizy with the ok of the Pope. The Ursine traffic circle is the memory of the village at the origin of Vélizy-Villacoublay. These domains gradually entered the royal domain from the 17C and at the end of the 18C for that of Vélizy. It was at Vélizy, on July 1, 1815, that General Exelmans, at the head of the dragons, knocked down two regiments of Prussian hussars which he drove to Rocquencourt, where they were completely destroyed by detachments of the French army. . Following these combats, the national guards of the country having taken up arms and shot at the Prussian horsemen, the next day the Prussian troops, in reprisals, almost completely burned the village and pillaged it, which gave it the nickname of Little Moscow. In 1937 , the aerodrome of Villacoublay has become so important at the international level that the town council of Vélizy decides, on May 29, 1937, that the name of Villacoublay should be joined to that of Vélizy and that the town takes the name of Vélizy-Villacoublay. On July 18, 1937, the “Fête de l’air” or air show took place, a large air meeting that foreshadowed the Paris Air Show after WWII. Today it hold an important French air force station with duties of protecting Paris and the Palais de l’Elysées home of the President of the French Republic.

The city of Vélizy-Villacoublay on its history/heritage: https://www.velizy-villacoublay.fr/page/une-ville-tournee-vers-l-avenir

The official Westfiel Vélizy 2 shopping center mall: https://www.westfield.com/france/velizy2

There you go folks, this most personal post and family values which we need more than ever today. We are kept together by these memories first with my dear mom Gladys and then with my dear wife Martine, and lastly my dear dad Elio. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Vélizy-Villacoublay as I.

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

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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