Slipping through time, let’s journey to a pivotal moment at Nanterre-la-Folie. It’s a crisp November morning in 1964. Commuter trains from Paris Saint-Lazare pull into the station. The air buzzes with anticipation. It’s the start of a new academic year. Young people, dressed in their best attire, pour onto the platform. They pause, bewildered by the muddy landscape surrounding them. This is Nanterre-la-Folie, then a former air force military site undergoing a transformation. These students are the first wave to attend the brand-new faculty of literature and social sciences at the Université de Paris-Nanterre. Nanterre-la-Folie was chosen to ease the burden on the overcrowded Sorbonne. Five buildings, connected by a vast corridor, rise from this once-barren land. Little did these fresh-faced students know, Nanterre-la-Folie would become the epicenter of student revolts. On March 22, 1968, the seeds of dissent sown here would blossom into the May ’68 movement, forever etching Nanterre-la-Folie into the annals of history. Fast forward to present day. Nanterre-la-Folie is a modern RER station, a vital transport hub. The muddy trenches of 1964 have been replaced by sleek train tracks. But the spirit of change, the echoes of protest still linger in the air. Nanterre-la-Folie, a place of transformation, where history unfolded and continues to shape the future.
Église Notre-Dame de l’Air
Beneath what appears to be a simple stone and wood structure lies a history interwoven with faith aviation and community.