Dream of strolling through a town designed like an impressionist painting. This is Le Vésinet a unique town west of Paris. It is only seven miles from the Étoile. Close to the Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Le Vésinet occupies part of the forest of Yveline. Long ago this forest covered all the area surrounding Paris.
Alphonse Pallu created Le Vésinet. He kept the historical outlook but created a quite original landscape in a very short time. From 1856 to 1860 the park of Le Vésinet was drawn by the count de Choulot. Its roads alleys rivulets and lakes were created. Also the first houses and Ste Marguerite’s church were built. Their plans can still be very clearly seen.
The wooded section is very thick. Transitions have been created by remarkable landscaped links. There are swathes of lawn lakes islands and rivers. Great avenues bordered with trees add to the beauty. As you walk through the park formed by this town you never notice any breaks imbalances or lack of harmony. The style of the floral displays is integrated in this very special site. Their appearance is natural yet at the same time sophisticated in the harmonies of the colors the volumes and the design of the plants.
The variety used means that the beds can change throughout the summer. This provides new interest for the walker. The floral arrangements are designed like impressionist paintings. In the landscapes nothing has to be small. The charm of the curves and the wide open spaces contribute to the sensation of largeness everywhere. When it was possible the stroller had to benefit of the beauty of the landscaping made of great masses of shade and light. The graceful and picturesque details of shade light flowers grass and water lead to the most magnificent imagination.
As for the rivers their size might seem small compared to the large open spaces but imagination can do the rest. They try to find as they possibly can the shade of the trees and the freshness of the woods. Rockeries and small water chutes diversify the aspects. They give motion to the picturesque parts.
For 150 years the inhabitants of Le Vésinet have kept the same way of life. It is the way of life Pallu and Choulot had imagined for them. They have fought to keep their town just as beautifull as it was at first. The town of Le Vésinet was officially established as an autonomous commune. It is one of the first housing estates created in the Paris region at the end of the 19th century. Le Vésinet is a residential town in western Paris. It is arranged around parks artificial lakes and rivers. Green arteries with trees more than a hundred years old line the town. Its residents are called Vésigondines and Vésigondins.
Le Vésinet is located in the middle of a meander of the Seine. It is located 19 kilometers west of Paris. It is also four kilometers east of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The neighboring towns are Chatou to the east Croissy-sur-Seine to the south Le Pecq to the west and Montesson to the north. Le Vésinet has a degraded oceanic climate.
In Le Vésinet you will find remarkable houses. Nearly a hundred are listed in the Inventory of Monuments and artistic riches of the Ministry of Culture. Five buildings are classified or listed in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments. So come and enjoy the views.