Lots of history here, and lots of memories visiting and riding once living in Versailles. It has been a while and perhaps nostalgic will bring out more . This have written a post before on the museum, but like to tell you more on Marly le Roi, in the Yvelines dept 78, Île de France region of my belle France. This post of course,will be in my black and white series,no pictures, Therefore,here is my take on this is Marly le Roi !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
In the heart of the Impressionist Country is home to the Marly-le-Roi national estate and part of the Marly state forest. The Impressionist period saw the village, attract painters such as Sisley or Pissarro as well as poets, writers and sculptors. Maillol also settled there at the beginning of the 20C, The city served as a model for several painters, including Hubert Robert, Maurice de Vlaminck (A Street in Marly-le-Roi, around 1905) and Giovanni Boldini (The Machine of Marly (The Seine at Bougival)) ,and Georges Mathieu titled one of his works Marly , The town is 22 km from Paris, 9 km from Versailles, 5 km from Saint-Germain-en-Laye , and 461 km from my current home, The town is located 4 km from exit 6 of the A13 autoroute de Normandie ,same exit for Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Marly-le-Roi, Le Chesnay, Versailles-Notre Dame. From the A13, you can take the N186, which connects Versailles to Saint-Germain-en-Laye,( I passed by it often and even visited friends in town!) allows you to reach Marly-le-Roi , Also crossed by the D7 which connects Le Pecq then Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Bailly and Saint-Cyr-l’École. Finally, the D161 connects Saint-Germain-en-Laye to L’Étang-la-Ville and Villepreux via Marly.
Here once upon a time there was the idea a aqueduct to feed the waters of the Palace of Versailles. In
Marly le Roi , the charm continues in its garden/park in this old village. You need to come to like the king did from its grille royal gate on the side of the town of Louveciennes (see post). There is a nice museum des promenades (see post) where they have a nice model of the old palace, as well as the machine de Marly that makes this stop a must. After you can walk in the park with beautiful reminders of its glory, such as sculptures, pieces of architecture, and the trough that has been renovated and in which you find the copies of the chevaux de Marly horses, where the originals are kept in the Louvre museum. You leave the park by the pavillon des gardes to reach city center that has preserves its old village ambiance and narrow street, some with cobblestones I say. The Grande Rue is the main artery bordered with typical houses where the winegrowers lived, but also the craftman and nobility.
You can see at No 14 a decorator tapestry maker, around the Grande Rue you can see beautiful mansions from the 18C especially the old royal kennel today ,the hotel de ville surrounded by one of the first landscaping gardens of France. The Hôtel Couvé with a beautiful balcony in forge iron. Taking the rue Champflour, you take a road going up to the middle ages of Marly Bourg or city center to Marly le Châtel stop at no 1 this house belonged to Alexandre Dumas. The city has a very important heritage such as the before mentioned royal park, in which the famous horses of Marly copies are located and the castle of Marly was located; the Museum of the royal estate of Marly, on the edge of the royal park; Then, the Place de la Vierge, formerly the site of large religious processions on Corpus Christi day; the wash house of the Thibaut pond, mentioned as early as 1266; the Saint-Vigor Church, built in 1688 by Mansart; The watering hole, built by Mansart in 1698-1702. It is the largest watering hole in Europe; it was completely restored in 2005 respecting the original techniques; The Chappe telegraph tower, built by Claude Chappe in 1798; The line from Saint-Cloud to Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche – Forêt-de-Marly, the Marly-le-Roi train station and the Marly railway viaduct (1884-1889); the Château du Verduron, former home of Victorien Sardou, famous for its sphinxes; The Fort du Trou-d’Enfer built between 1878 and 1881; The house of Alexandre Dumas (son); The Hôtel de Toulouse, built at the beginning of the 18C, inhabited around 1730 by Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon; The Hôtel de Gesvres, property of Monseigneur the Duke of Gesvres, governor of Paris who lived there in 1741; the covered market, by architects Jacques Dubois and Philippe Ameller (2014).
A bit of history tell us the town was known from 676, under Thierry III. Then, forward in history , Marly was the property of the lords of Montmorency until its acquisition by Louis XIV in 1676, who had Jules Hardouin-Mansart build his Marly castle here, more intimate than Versailles and where he could indulge in personal pleasures. He thus acquired the lordship of Marly in exchange to build his castle there. The castle, located on the Cœur Volant plateau, is supplied with water by the Marly machine and the Louveciennes aqueduct and the northern end is decorated with a basin, below, at the level of the village, and a huge watering hole where riders can enter with their mounts! This basin will be decorated, under Louis XV, by the two famous Marly horses sculpted in 1745 by Guillaume Coustou. In 1789, the castle was pillaged by the revolutionaries and left abandoned. The horses were “stolen” to be installed in Paris on the Place de la Concorde and then placed at the entrance to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in 1795. Today, they are sheltered from the elements at the Louvre Museum in the Marly courtyard of the Richelieu wing.
The city of Marly le Roi on its heritage: https://www.marlyleroi.fr/Patrimoine-ancien/58/
The local Seine St Germain en Laye tourist office on Marly le Roi: https://www.seine-saintgermain.fr/en/things-to-see-and-do/towns-and-villages/village-spirit/the-charming-old-village-of-marly-2/
The Yvelines dept 78 tourist office on Marly le Roi: https://www.destination-yvelines.fr/visiter-marly-le-roi-ville-royale/
There you go folks, a historical wonderful area we love from our former hunting ground. The area of Marly le Roi is tops to visit and to live, and you should enjoy it all surrounded by lush surrounding in noble French traditions. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Marly le Roi !!! as I .
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 