Le Vésinet () is a suburban commune in the

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.department in the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in north-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of western

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, from the centre of Paris. In 2019, it had a population of 15,943. Le Vésinet is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, known for its wooded avenues, mansions and lakes. It contains many public gardens designed by French landscape gardener Paul de Lavenne, comte de Choulot.

History

The commune of Le Vésinet was created on 31 May 1875 by detaching a part of the territory of Chatou and merging it with a part of the territory of Croissy-sur-Seine and a part of the territory of Le Pecq.

Geography

Le Vésinet is located in a bend of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...

, but has no access to the river. It is 16.4 km (10.2 mi) west of

and 4 km east of

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint- ...

. The surrounding communes are Chatou on the east, Croissy-sur-Seine on the south, Le Pecq on the west, and Montesson on the north. The terrain is an alluvial plain ranging in altitude from 28 meters near Le Pecq to 45 meters at the end of the ''Route de Montesson'', with a gentle slope from northeast to southwest. The commune is entirely urbanized, principally with single-family dwellings. Green space comprises 20 percent of the territory. There are a number of lakes: the ''lac Supérieur'', the ''lac Inférieur'', the ''lac de la Station'', the ''lac de Croissy'', and the ''Grand lac'' (with a large central island, ''l'Île des Ibis'') also called ''Lac des Ibis''. These lakes are linked by nearly 4 km of artificial streams called ''les Petites Rivières''.

Population

Sights

Le Vésinet was the first "ville-parc" to be built in France. It has many green spaces, lakes, and lavish mansions. The following are notable buildings: *L'hôpital du Vésinet (72 avenue de la Princesse), built by

Eugène Laval Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Louis-Auguste Boileau from 1862 to 1865, the first non-industrial building in France built of concrete *Villa Berthe ou La Hublotière (72 route de Montesson), built by Hector Guimard in 1896. *Pink Palace (12 rue Diderot), built on the model of the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his '' maîtresse-e ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

Arthur Schweitzer Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

about 1900 *Wood Cottage (122 boulevard des Etats-Unis), classified as a historic monument in 2000. Built in 1864 by Tricotel, a landscaping firm. *Villa Olivia (12 avenue Rembrandt) built by Pierre-Joseph Olive *Sainte-Pauline, built in 1905 Since 1997, Le Vésinet has received the ultimate distinction of four flowers in the national competition for ''villes fleuries''.

Transport

Le Vésinet is served by two stations on Paris

RER line A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from east to west, with all t ...

: Le Vésinet – Centre and Le Vésinet – Le Pecq.

Education

The following public schools are in Le Vésinet: Preschools: *Ecole maternelle Centre *Ecole maternelle Charmettes *Ecole maternelle La Borde *Ecole maternelle Princesse *Ecole maternelle Les Cygnes Elementary schools: *Ecole élémentaire Merlettes *Ecole élémentaire Pallu *Ecole élémentaire Pasteur *Ecole élémentaire Princesse Secondary schools: *Collège du Cèdre (junior high school) * Lycée Alain (senior high school/sixth form college) Private schools: * Bon-Sauveur (preschool through senior high school) * Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc (preschool and elementary school) * Sainte-Odile (preschool and elementary school) * Ecole Saint-Charles (elementary school) International school: * Malherbe International School (nursery through middle school) Le Vésinet is served by the Bibliothèque intercommunale du Vésinet, a library.Bibliothèque intercommunale du Vésinet
" Le Vésinet. Retrieved on September 2, 2016.

Twin towns – sister cities

Le Vésinet is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Oakwood, United States * Outremont (Montreal), Canada *

Unterhaching Unterhaching (; Central Bavarian: ''Haching'') is the second largest municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria, Germany, located to the south of Munich city centre and easily accessible via two federal motorways, Bundesautobahn 8 and Bun ...

, Germany *

Villanueva de la Cañada Villanueva de la Cañada is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Located 30 km north-west from Madrid, the municipality covers an area of 34.92 km2. Geographically, it sits on a large plain, in which there are several pr ...

, Spain * Worcester, England, United Kingdom Le Vésinet also has friendly relations with Hunters Hill in Australia.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesinet Communes of Yvelines