Paris1972-Versailles2003

Another of my memorable times while living in Versailles and working in Paris for 9+ years was coming to these quant towns off the beaten path such as Neauphle le Château. I found me a picture in my cd rom vault that should be in my blog for you and me, And again thanks for reading me since Nov 2010! Therefore, this is my take on this is Neauphle le Château !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The village of Neauphle-le-Château is located in the Yvelines department no, 78, in the Île-de-France region of my belle France, It is located at 18 km from Versailles, 23 km from Rambouillet, 19 km from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 36 km from Paris,and 420 km from my current home, I came here from Versailles starting from the Rue du Maréchal Foch continue on Ave de l’Europe crossing ave de Paris into ave du Général de Gaulle continue into Rue Royale right on rue Albert Samain, left on ave Clément Ader (D91 ) to connect with the N12 to exit 13 on D134 which runs alongside the N12 but in local road mode, continues as D11 road into City center Neauphle le Château.

The village of Neauphle le Château is served by the N12 road which provides access to Paris from the N 118 (Porte de Saint-Cloud) and the A13 (Porte d’Auteuil). From the N 12, the village is accessible via exit 13 (D 134: Neauphle-le-C., Jouars-Pontchartrain, Refuge-Fourrière SPA Sainte-Apolline). The D134 road is called Avenue de la République ends at Place Mancest. There is also significant local traffic via the D11 (Saint-Cyr-l’École – Septeuil), which crosses the town via Place Mancest, with Plaisir and Villiers-Saint-Frédéric and its important Pontel crossroads. At the crossroads known as Trois Communes, halfway down the descent towards Pontel, begins the D15 known as Route de Chevreuse which leads to Jouars-Pontchartrain to the hamlet of Mousseaux.

The current Church Saint-Nicolas is probably the third on the site, was built in 1118 by Simon III, Constable of France, who also founded, in the same year, with his wife Eve, the important Cistercian Abbey of Vaux de Cernay. It consisted of a choir, transept, nave and side aisles. The choir and transept remain, as well as some furniture ,and sculptures, and a remarkable 13C baptismal font. It was restored in the 15C after damage suffered during the Hundred Years’ War, The nave and façade were rebuilt in the 17C after a fire and the whole restored from 1841 to 1867. The medieval bell tower was topped with a tall timber spire at the end of the 17C and fitted with 4 bells. The interior and exterior of the church were restored by the village between 1988 and 1994, along with the beautiful antique furnishings.

Nicolas, son of Pomponne de Bellièvre, Lord of Grignon, Lord of Neauphle, and Chancellor of France, adorned the parish church before his death in 1650 with the sumptuous altarpiece on the high altar, which still constitutes its principal adornment today.  In 1697, the Benedictines of Bourgueil donated their St. Andrew’s Chapel, now the back of the choir, to the parish to enlarge it. Before 1731, the Counts of Pontchartrain completed the church’s furnishings by adding woodwork, a pew, a pulpit, a confessional, paintings, and Louis XV-style side altars, which still adorn it today, augmented by some excellent 19C additions such as paintings, frescoes, stained-glass windows, holy water fonts, etc.

Other things to see here is the Distillerie Grand Marnier Distillery, a 19C industrial building. Here, in 1827, Jean-Baptiste Lapostolle founded a distillery producing fruit liqueurs, the future Grand Marnier of 1880 (see post in Fécamp) Since the 2020s, it has been undergoing restoration to accommodate businesses and housing.  

A bit of history tell us that the fortified castle, “La Butte à Philippe”, was destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years’ War. In 1478, the barony of Neauphle-le-Château was attached to the county of Montfort-l’Amaury ; the two fiefs belonging to the Duke of Brittany ,but Olivier Le Daim, who had received the county of Meulan, from which the barony fell, opposed it and the attachment was not confirmed until 1483, after Olivier le Daim’s death. Reunited with the crown of France in the 16C,it then passed through the hands of various lords until the French revolution. During which it was named provisionally as Neauphle-la-Montagne. In 1798, the churchabove bell tower was requisitioned for the installation of a Chappe telegraph, a relay between the Clayes-sous-Bois post and that of La Queue-les-Yvelines; the telegraph was in use until 1851. On October 6, 1978, Ayatollah Khomeini, expelled from Iran, took refuge in France, and settled in exile in Neauphle-le-Château four days later, from where he returned to Iran on February 1, 1979.

As an anecdote and two of my all time favorite films, the, The Longest Day (1962) or Le jour le plus long, American film with John Wayne: a scene was filmed at night in front of the “Bazar de Neauphle” with the blue shop, the bell tower of the Church Saint-Nicolas in the background. Also, Les Couloirs du temps : Les Visiteurs 2 or The Corridors of Time: The Visitors 2 (1998), directed by Jean-Marie Poiré: several scenes were filmed in the streets Traversière and Grande Rue.

The Village of Neauphle le Château on the Church Saint Nicolas : https://www.neauphle-le-chateau.com/eglise-saint-nicolas.html

There you go folks, another quant off the beaten path trip in my old backyard. Oh yes there is more to see an ever ending source of wonderful architecture and history in my wonderful Yvelines and my belle France, I am working on it ! Neauphle le Château is nice and walking its main streets is a delight. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Neauphle le Château !!! as I.

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