Paris1972-Versailles2003

Another of my memorable times while living in Versailles and working in Paris for 9+ years was coming to these quant towns/villages off the beaten path such as Rolleboise. I found a couple pictures 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 Rolleboise !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The village of Rolleboise is located in the Yvelines department,no, 78 in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. This small village, situated on the left bank of the Seine river. It is located 11 km from Mantes-la-Jolie (see posts), 12 km from Giverny (see post), 30 km from Anet (see post), 55 km from Versailles, and 484 km from my current home. We came here from Versailles along the Rue de la Paroisse right on Bd du Roi bearing left on the Place de la Loi onto the Bd Saint Antoine continue changes names same road to connect with the A13 autoroute de Normandie dir Rouen get off at exit/sortie 14 dir Vernon continue thru City center Bonnieres sur Seine follow signs for toutes directions bearing right onto the D113 road route nationale continue bearing right onto the C7 communal road dir corniche de Rolleboise on Route de la Corniche to parking on your left hand side facing the domaine de la corniche,

What took us here was a light lunch at the Domaine de la Corniche! A landscape worthy of a Claude Monet painting. Legend has it that it was King Leopold II of Belgium who, in 1908, commissioned this proud building overlooking the Seine Valley to house his affair with his mistress, Blanche de Vaughan. Another, even more scandalous, version claims that the commissioner was Baroness de Wülf, who was a baroness in name only and was a native of Freneuse, a neighboring village. This courtesan, it is said, was looking for a place to entertain her Parisian “friends” in a residence befitting her success. Transformed into a hotel in the 1920s, the Corniche de Rolleboise changed hands several times until, in the 1970s, Mr. Picard made it a hotspot for the Parisian jet set. He knew the codes of the regulars at Fouquet’s and Bus Palladium and attracted this clientele, renaming the place in the process: Château de la Corniche, thus becoming the most “pop” château in western Paris and one of the first “Relais & Châteaux”. Subsequent owners did not follow in the footsteps of this astute hotelier and, when in 2004, Jérôme Crépatte bought Château de la Corniche, he gradually restored the Corniche to its former glory. The Domaine de la Corniche has become an essential address for a romantic weekend or a stay in the heart of the Impressionists’ Valley.

Other things to see here is the Church of Saint-Michel, built in the 15C and rebuilt in the 17C, was then a dependency of the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille.

As anecdotes here the English painter William Turner depicted the banks of the Seine in 1833 in a watercolor entitled “View of the Seine between Mantes and Vernon (Rolleboise on the road to Bonnières).” It is part of his series “Wanderings by the Seine” (“Turner’s Annual Tour”) and is held at Tate museum in London. Other painters who came here were Maximilien Luce, Joseph Mallord, Daniel Ridgway, Alfred Veillet, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, and Herbert Ward.

A bit of history I like tell us that Rolleboise was evangelized by Saint Nicaise, the Apostle of the Vexin, who spent a year in Mousseaux. In 750, Pepin the Short granted properties located in Robascio to the Abbey of Saint-Denis. Situated on the banks of the Seine, Rolleboise suffered several times from Norman invasions, particularly in 861 when they completely devastated the region. In 1177, Louis VII confirmed the donations made to the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille by Childebert IV, namely Marcoussis, Boncourt, Rosny, Rolleboise, Chauffour, Villette, and free passage on the Seine. During the Hundred Years’ War, in October 1363, the castle of Rolleboise was captured and occupied by John Jouel, a company commander in the service of Edward III of England. In 1364, he relinquished command to one of his lieutenants, who pillaged the region and ransomed ships traveling between Mantes and Rouen. This mercenary, acting on his own behalf, pillaged the possessions of the King of Navarre, the King of France, and the King of England. After a siege and several unsuccessful assaults by Bertrand Du Guesclin, in May 1365, Charles V ordered the fortress razed. In the 17C, the construction of a royal road linking Paris to Évreux allowed the village to prosper. At that time, Rolleboise was part of the bailiwick of Magny and the generality of Rouen. At the beginning of the 19C, a riverboat, the Galiote, connected Rolleboise to Poissy. The outward journey took nine hours, but the return trip took only five. This difference was due to the current that had to be navigated upstream, the darkness of the night, and the poor maintenance of the towpath. The village did not suffer greatly during the French campaign of 1814. It only had to house various detachments of the Allied armies, as well as during the invasion of France in 1815. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and more specifically during the Siege of Paris, the Prussians did not stay in the village. Rolleboise, however, like all the towns/villages in the canton of Bonnières, was requisitioned for the supply of oats, livestock, and various extraordinary contributions, particularly on October 4, 1870. On August 20, 1944, the American army, which had landed in Normandy in June, crossed the Seine at Rolleboise.

The village of Rolleboise : https://www.mairie-rolleboise.fr/

The official Domaine de la Corniche : https://www.domainedelacorniche.com/en/page/domain-hotels-in-giverny.1670.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 belle France, I am working on it ! Rolleboise is quant, nice and a great property to boot. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Rolleboise !!as I.

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