This is going back to my former backyard in the Yvelines dept 78 of the Île de Franceregion of my belle France. I was several times in Mantes la Jolie as my oldest son went to specialized restaurant chef school there; once in the city walk around to see its monuments and found out this is also one of the Royal towns of France. I notice some photos not in my blog yet and as in my cd rom vault they should be here for you and me, Therefore here is my take on curiosities of Mantes La Jolie,part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
This is the farthest from Paris ,but also a Royal town of France. Why because king Henri IV in a letter to Gabrielle d’Estrées, his mistress, who resided in Mantes, the king wrote to her: “I come to Mantes, my Pretty” ,and so it stuck as Mantes-la-Jolie ! It is easy does it from Paris Saint Lazare to Mantes la Jolie station at place du 8 mai 1945 (not to take the Mantes Ville station) ,there are two here. On the road ,take the A13 out of Paris direction Rouen (autoroute de Normandie) exit/sortie 11. Follow signs for city center (centre ville), and will come to it all.
When we came we headed to the parking Normandie right next to the cinema and walk all over, This is in place Henri Dunant, And yes on the date of the pictures it was snowing lol !!
The first movie theater in Mantes la Jolie was none other than… the Hôtel-Dieu museum, once called the Cinéma-palace in 1912, after the Great War or WWI, in 1931, the ultramodern theater showed its first talking film. The cinema-theater on Place de Lorraine was built in the 1920s, but was destroyed by fire in 1934 and then rebuilt. At the same time, the Apollo cinema was being built behind the Palais de Justice. In 1969, the Domino was inaugurated on rue Robert et Marie-Dubois. A few months later, the Nat 13 opened its doors on the Val Fourré slab, but its lifespan was short. The Chaplin took over in 1984 and continued to show ambitious films in a recently renovated theater. As for the Mega CGR, Place Henri Dunant, opened in 2001, it offers 9 rooms, the largest of which can accommodate more than 500 spectators. It shows 3D films and regularly schedules previews commented by directors. To while away the time until the screening, pinball machines and video games are installed opposite the candy kiosk. We came here for the prémieres of a couple films memory flashing away,
The Pont Neuf is a road bridge that crosses the Seine river from Mantes-la-Jolie to Limay over a length of 405 meters. It actually comprises two bridges, separated by the crossing of the Île aux Dames (also called “Île de Limay”), The Pont Neuf of Mantes is part of the route D190. This road taken several times and its wonderful sights worth the ride indeed, It is a two-lane road (except for a short four-lane section at the crossing of Carrières-sous-Poissy) which crosses an urbanized area continuously almost from end to end. The towns crossed are: Le Pecq, Saint Germain en Laye, Poissy, Carrières sous Poissy, Triel sur Seine, Vaux sur Seine, Meulan en Yvelines, Hardricourt, Mézy sur Seine, Juziers, Gargenville, Issou, Guitrancourt, Mantes la Jolie ,and Limay.
In Mantes, it was said of this company of Arquebusiers that they were “the dogs of Mantes”, this is probably the reason for the choice of Arquebusiers to take this animal as an emblem. These dogs have therefore naturally become the emblems of Mantes la Jolie, two magnificent bronzes sculpted by Bernadette Kanter which sit majestically at the entrance to the city facing Limay who opposed him to the wolves. Here by the porte des poissons or porte de l’Etape they built a house for them as were given special priviledge to serve God and King. Unfortunately the bombs of WWII in 1944 and the rebuilding of the area with a new bridge, the house is no longer here, but the dogs remains!
The Rue de Lorraine is the former Chemin des Rondes, then de la Seraine or Syrène and Chemin or Rue Aux Bœufs. . At the corner of this street with Boulevard Victor-Duhamel, driveway entrance to the Cemetery. The fire station, located on Place de Lorraine, was built on part of the pig market, which was removed in 1931. The theater, built in the middle of the square, is of recent construction. On this same site, before the establishment of the city’s slaughterhouses, pigs were burned. The Saint-Pierre cemetery had one of its gates on the site of no. 44. Before all the above we came here once to the Sous-préfecture de Mantes-la-Jolie at 18-20 rue de Lorraine for my parents resident visas as Versailles was overloaded, and here was easy in and out, It goes from Bd Victor Duhamel next to above mentioned cemetery all the way to the roundabout converging the Avenue de la République, Avenue du Président Franklin Roosevelt, and Bd du Maréchal Juin, You passed the above mentioned Place Henri Dunant,
The Porte au Prêtre or Priest’s Gate in Mantes-la-Jolie. It is located on the banks of the Seine river, near the Collegiate Church Notre Dame (see posts). In the Middle Ages, the town of Mantes was protected by a rampart. The Priest’s Gate is a gate through which one could enter the town. In the 15C, the town of Mantes was in English hands. In 1421, a priest tried to open the gate to the French so they could liberate Mantes, but the guards surprised him and murdered him. Today, machicolations and part of the rampart remain. A house has been built on the site. Machicolations are balconies at the top of the walls or towers of fortified castles; they are pierced with openings in the lower part. These openings allowed projectiles to be dropped on the enemy.
The city of Mantes La Jolie on its history/heritage: https://www.manteslajolie.fr/ma-ville/decouvrir-mantes-la-jolie-1
The official Mega CGR cinema: https://www.cgrcinemas.fr/theaters/b0121-cgr-mantes-la-jolie/
The Yvelines dept 78 tourist office on Mantes la Jolie: https://www.destination-yvelines.fr/visiter-mantes-la-jolie/
There you go folks , another gem of my dear Yvelines. Always memorable to come to nostalgic Mantes La Jolie. It is nice by City center all monuments are reach on foot, Again, hope you enjoy the post on curiosities of Mantes La Jolie,part II !!! as I
And remember, happy travels , good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 