Lots of history here, and lots of memories visiting and riding once living in nearby Versailles. It has been a while and perhaps nostalgic ,glad to found me older pics in my cd rom vault to share here for you and me, I like to show the city hall building or mairie to start this post. Therefore,here is my take on this is Chambourcy !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
The town of Chambourcy is located in the Yvelines department 78, of the Île de France region of my belle France, It is south of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye forest and north of the Marly forest. It borders Poissy 4 km , Saint-Germain-en-Laye ,and Fourqueux 5 km, Aigremont 3 km, Feucherolles 8 km, Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche 11 km , Paris 25 km, and 17 km from Versailles, The town is served by the N13, aka route de quarante sous, and many times by it and so many memorable family moments. Of course, it is also crossed by the A13 autoroute de Normandie, and the A14 autoroute. I took from home the rue des Reservoirs D186 to Bd Saint Antoine to Route de Saint Germain all before same road, Crossing the A13 it becomes the N186 ,then D386 by Marly le Roi gets back same road on the N186 passing by Port Marly to connect to the N13 to town or the Désert de Retz along the route Allée Frédéric Passy, All wonderful areas worth the ride indeed.
One thing we were always eager to visit and sadly not enough pics just lucky to found me one to do this deserving post to a dear town spot for my family, This was the Desert of Retz , an Anglo-Chinese garden created at the end of the 18C by an aristocrat, François-Nicolas-Henri Racine de Monville. It is today one of the few to survive in a form close to its original creation. Its owner-creator named it Désert, a word used since the 17C to evoke these solitary places where people liked to withdraw and receive without etiquette. You come here for a bucolic, philosophical and melancholic stroll in the spirit of Rousseau. The master of the place, keen on philosophy and art, plants essences from all the continents and gives great gallant parties here, with concerts, readings, plays by actors from the Comédie-Française. We even whisper that Marie-Antoinette, seduced, is inspired by the place to create her famous Hameau at Versailles! Barthélemy de Roye or de Retz, chamberlain of Philippe-Auguste, founder of the abbey of Joyenval. Established in a 38-hectare domain located on the northern edge of the Marly forest, in Saint-Jacques-de-Roye (or Retz), in the town of Chambourcy, the Désert de Retz drew its originality from its seventeen factories and its rare species imported from the four corners of the world. Today, only 17 hectares remain; On September 24, 2009, the reopening to the public of the Désert de Retz was officially inaugurated.
The factories still present are the destroyed column (see pic), Main factory of the Désert de Retz, built in 1781, it became the main residence of François de Monville, after the Chinese House. The ruined Gothic church is the only authentic ruin of the estate, the Chapel of the old hamlet of Saint-Jacques-de-Retz was built in the 13C. However, from the beginning of the 16C, the faithful deserted it and went to the abbey of Joyenval, not far from there The temple to the god Pan is one of the first factories built by François de Monville around 1775. The construction evokes classical Greece, the very symbol of philosophy. The small altar almost in ruins, It is a votive altar reminiscent of ancient Rome, located in the meadow which extends to the south of the destroyed column The theater discovered under a cradle of large elms, Today deprived of its shade, the theater has preserved two Chinese fire pots with lion paws framing the stage wall. This wall was once adorned with a bas-relief representing Bacchus as a child on his chariot pulled by two Cupids, The pyramid icehouse is built on 3 levels: a tank, 6 meters deep, in the shape of a half-barrel and equipped with a sump, a square base and a pyramid. The Tartar tent located on the island of Happiness, this wooden-framed tent, rebuilt in 1989, is made of sheet metal painted with wide turquoise and yellow stripes and ends with a dome made of Siamese material. Stretched inside with toile de Jouy, it served as an arms room. The ruined or disappeared factories are the Chinese House and its pavilion, the orangery, the greenhouses, the rock, the outbuildings Bourgeois house of the 13-hectare property acquired by François de Monville in 1774, it was transformed into outbuildings, grouping together: the caretaker’s accommodation, the kitchens, and perhaps a bathroom. The temple of rest built in 1777, it was composed of a rotunda of trees, preceded by a facade with two doors decorated with trompe-l’oeil paintings. The hermitage It was a cabin made of wooden planks, built on an artificial earthwork surrounded by trees. The Obelisk, the Tomb, the Dairy and the Converted Farm, Famous Visitors to the Désert: Madame du Barry, Queen Marie-Antoinette (from August 5, 1781), Louis Philippe d’Orléans, the future Philippe Égalité (from 1782), Thomas Jefferson and his friend Maria Cosway (in 1786),and Colette.
The Church of Sainte Clotilde has a nave with two aisles extended by a deep, semicircular central apse dating from the 12C. Externally, the church consists of three parts: the nave covered by a steeply pitched roof, the southern lateral bell tower, and the lower and narrower choir. Inside, the nave and choir are adorned with beautiful carved woodwork in the Louis XV style. The nave vault is in the shape of an inverted barrel vault, while the choir vault is ogival. In 1979, Sainte Clotilde was declared patron saint of the church, taking into account the devotion of the people of Chambourcy to the wife of Clovis, King of the Franks. Until then, this church was under the patronage of Saint Saturnin, a fact attested as early as 1112.
Other things to see here are the House of André Derain, 64 Grande Rue, built in the 18C, and remodeled in the 19-20C. The House belonged to the Bigot de Sainte Croix families (last foreign minister of Louis XVI), the Bassan (print dealers) and then to André Derain. The Yvelines painter and founder of Fauvism with Matisse and Vlaminck, bought the property La Roseraie in July 1935. He welcomed many famous artists there such as Georges Braque, Balthus, Alberto Giacometti, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Louise de Vilemorin, Edmonde Charles Roux and Paul Poiret as well as Jean Renoir. The Derain couple moved to Chambourcy in January 1936,
A bit of condense history tell us that in 1224 the Joyenval Abbey was founded and first real mentioned of the town, In 1346 the Joyenval Abbey and Montjoie Castle were pillaged by the English under Edward III from 1686 to 1786: the Retz aqueduct in 1789, Creation of the Desert of Retz, a romantic garden comprising numerous “follies”, The ALB dairy founded, which launched the “Petit Chambourcy”, a Petit-Suisse, in 1948.
The official le Désert de Retz: https://www.ledesertderetz.fr/
The town of Chambourcy on le Désert de Retz: https://www.chambourcy.fr/149/culture-et-evenements/histoire-et-patrimoine/desert-de-retz.htm
The parish Sainte Clotilde of Chambourcy on the church: https://sainte-clotilde.fr/visite-de-leglise-sainte-clotilde-de-chambourcy/
There you go folks, a historical wonderful area we love from our former hunting ground. The town of Chambourcy is tops to visit ,shop, 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 Chambourcy !!! as I .
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 