I bring you back to my former region Île de France, and a familiar town. It is an off the beaten path area that should be visited more, and I look forward to be back, eventually. I found me new pics in my cd rom vault that should be in my blog for you and me, Therefore, let me tell you about this is Vanves !!! Hope you enjoy it as I,
The City of Vanves is located in the Hauts-de-Seine department no, 92 in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. It is close to the BP or ring road, particularly the Porte de la Plaine and Porte Brancion gates. It is, also crossed by the D 50 road of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre – Boulogne-Billancourt axis, running parallel to the ring road), It is 6 km from Meudon, and Boulogne-Billancourt, 18 km from Créteil, 4 km from Paris-Montparnasse , and 14 km from Versailles from where I had visited the City taking the Avenue de Paris (D10) becoming the D910 by Chaville but same road continue bear right onto the D181 road passing by the forest of Meudon to connect exit N118 road dir Boulogne-Billancourt cross the Seine river by the Pont de Sévres bridge to connect with the D1 road bordering the Seine dir Paris Centre continue then bear right cross the Seine on the Pont d’Issy les Moulineaux bridge on the D50 road dir Vanves to the Church Saint Rémy,
The Château de Vanves, dating from the 17C, now houses the Lycée Michelet (high school), The castle/school is located in the heart of a 17-hectare green park. The high school houses a middle school, a general high school, as well as preparatory classes for the grandes écoles.
The Château de Vanves was probably built around the middle of the 17C for Abbot Charles Le Prevost, who was the lord of Vanves from 1638 to 1661. In 1655, Claude Lebas de Montargis became the owner of the château and had a new château built by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Completed in 1704, it was bought in 1717 by the Prince of Condé and then sold as national property during the French revolution. The Prytanée français, now known as the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, bought the land in 1798. In 1859, the château was enlarged and a chapel was built; The high school became an independent establishment in 1864 under the name of Lycée du Prince-Impérial, under the patronage of Prince Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte. In 1870, it successively took the name Lycée Buffon then Lycée de Vanves and only became Lycée Michelet in 1888. During WWI, the high school served as a military surgical hospital. After the war in 1919, Lycée Michelet became a temporary hospital for French soldiers. During WWII, a nazis Kriegsmarine rest center occupied the high school from June 1940. You can come by Metro line 12 Corentin Celton line 13 Malakoff-Plateau de Vanves or by bus line 58 terminus Lycée Michelet or bus 89 Carrefour Albert Legris or Square de L’Insurrection.
The official cité Michelet on the school history : https://cite-scolaire-michelet-vanves.ac-versailles.fr/presentation/historique.html
The Gare Vanves – Malakoff train station is a station on the Paris-Montparnasse to Brest line (SNCF), served by trains on the Transilien line N. It was opened on October 1, 1883. The 1934 passenger building is part of the 20C railway architectural heritage. The SNCF station has a passenger building with a ticket office, Transilien ATMs, a real-time train information system, and magnetic loops for the hearing impaired. It is equipped with a central platform and two side platforms flanking four tracks. The two side platforms are only used in the event of problems or work on the tracks. Platforms are changed via an underground passage.
The official Transilien ïle de France transports on the Vanves Malakoff train station : https://www.transilien.com/fr/gare/vanves-malakoff-8739153
The SNCF on the Vanves Malakoff train station : https://www.garesetconnexions.sncf/en/stations-services/vanves-malakoff
The Church Saint Rémy, located on Rue de la République, was consecrated in 1449. It is built in the Flamboyant Gothic style and comprises a nave ending in a three-sided choir. Part of this nave was built in the 19C, at which time painted frescoes were added. The bell tower, due to destruction during the 1870-1871 war, was rebuilt in 1874.
The Church Saint Rémy, the oldest in the Middle Ages, in Vanves was partly a fief of the basilica founded by Clovis, which became the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève. This probably explains why the church is dedicated to Saint Rémy ,by whom Clovis was baptized, and to Saint Geneviève, his spiritual friend. The original church was probably made of wood. It became a Romanesque building in the 13C, then evolved into a Flamboyant Gothic style. It was often mistreated and then rebuilt throughout history: during the French revolution, worship was simply forbidden under penalty of death. The church became a Temple of Reason, a village hall, a warehouse, and a workshop. Worship was officially reestablished in 1802. When Abbé Bousquet arrived in 1843, the building was in danger of falling into ruin. He carried out a series of major works, including the construction of a new bell tower, which was later raised after the Commune uprisings of 1871.
The Parish of Vanves on the Church Saint Rémy : https://paroisse-vanves.fr/les-eglises/visite-de-nos-deux-eglises/saint-remy/
Other things to see here are the Gallo-Roman remains with the discovery of a vast peripheral gallery from the 2C or 3C AD, The Priory of Sainte-Bathilde, monastery founded in 1921 by Mother Waddington-Demas on the advice of a monk from Ligugé, Dom Jean Messe. The monastery was built between 1934 and 1936 by Dom Bellot, monk architect. The church was consecrated by Bishop Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, in 1949. The Church Saint Francis of Assisi, consecrated in 1986, on the site of an old church from 1921 demolished in 1980. The Frédéric-Pic municipal park, in the 18C, an estate owned by the Duchess of Mortemart, transformed into a nursing home in 1822. Rue Falret, which runs alongside the park, bears witness to this history today. The estate was saved from real estate speculation by Mayor Frédéric Pic and became the municipal park; it was inaugurated in 1939.
A bit of history I like tell us that in 1999, archaeological excavations uncovered the remains of Gallo-Roman baths from the 2-3C on Rue Gaudray. It is not known whether this was a suburban sanctuary of Lutetia, a villa, or whether a vicus (secondary settlement) existed at the time on the site of Vanves. This village appears in a document from 1163 as belonging to the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris; in 1247, the inhabitants were freed by the abbot. In 1423, the abbot, who remained loyal to Charles VII, was imprisoned by Henry IV, King of England. In 1700, the Princes of Condé had a castle built, designed by Mansart ; it now houses the Michelet college and high school (see above). As part of the administrative reform of 1789, the City of Vanves was part of the old department of Seine and the district of Bourg-la-Reine (Bourg-l’Égalité under the 1st Republic), then of the arrondissement of Sceaux (1801). In 1815, the city was occupied by the Anglo-Prussians; Wellington and Blücher established their headquarters there. In 1860, the reform of Prefect Haussmann annexed part of the territory of Vanves to the current 15éme arrondissement of Paris; in 1883, the division of the city territory introduced by the railway line coming from the Montparnasse station led to the creation of the city of Malakoff. In 1964, Vanves was attached to the new department of Hauts-de-Seine no 92.
The City of Vanves on its heritage : https://www.vanves.fr/vie-municipale/decouvrir-vanves/
The Hauts de Seine dept 92 tourist office on its heritage : https://destination.hauts-de-seine.fr/sites-et-monuments-92.html
The Île de France region tourist office on things to do in general : https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/what-to-see-and-do/go-with-the-flow
There you go folks, again another dandy in my former region of Île de France, This is one town that needs to be visited more ,still off beaten path mode but worth the detour, It is sublime, and darn good to be at. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Vanves !!! as I,
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 