Tourist Office podcasts

The Château de Marly was the intimate residence of Louis XIV, where he liked to retreat, far from the hustle and bustle of the Versailles Court. Built under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1679, this palace with its architecture similar to a theatre set is surrounded by a magnificent garden where ponds and statues evoke mythology and exalt the country character of this residence.

Would you like to enter this garden and find out more about the history of this château and the marvellous Marly machine, which supplied the estate with water? You’ll have to visit the Domaine royal de Marly museum, which will reveal all the secrets of that era.

The Désert de Retz is an Anglo-Chinese garden created at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François-Nicolas Henri Racine de Monville. He named it “Désert” to evoke those solitary places where, from the 17th century onwards, people liked to retreat and entertain without etiquette. Set in a 40-hectare estate on the edge of the Marly forest, this park with its fabriques, daring vantage points and remarkable trees will enchant you!

Open from April to October, visit our online ticket office for all tour dates and booking details!

In the summer of 1935, André Derain (1880-1954) moved with his family to La Roseraie*, a pretty 18th-century house in the small village of Chambourcy, just a few kilometres from Paris.
For almost twenty years, he would fashion a colossal body of work that is now on show in the world’s greatest museums. But do we really know the multiple talents of this extraordinary artist?

With the Tourist Office we regularly offer a lecture-projection, followed by a presentation of the workshop, which will enable you to discover or rediscover this giant of the 20th century.

The grandson of an innkeeper, Alexandre Dumas placed great importance on cooking and had a passion for good food, which is evident in many of his works. He also enjoyed entertaining and organising fabulous parties at his home in Monte Cristo, during which he played an active part in the kitchen. To complete his work and pay homage to the culinary arts, he devoted a large cookery dictionary to it, with more than 3,000 recipes listed in alphabetical order. His travels were a major source of inspiration for recipes such as Trout à la montagnarde (Swiss-style) and Macaroni à la Napolitaine, not forgetting Elephant’s Foot and Bear’s Paw. To be savoured…

Madame du Barry, a former royal mistress, and Queen Marie-Antoinette’s official portraitist, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, met shortly before the French Revolution at Louveciennes. The painter went to her château and painted her on a plain background, three-quarter bust, wearing a straw hat and a simple dress. While her portrait was being painted, no one could have predicted the fate that awaited them…

This time it’s Victoria, another of our “Béa”, who tells you the wonderful story of one of Saint Germain Boucles de Seine’s illustrious characters: Claude Debussy.

Born into a modest family in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he developed a passion for the piano at an early age and quickly developed his talents as a composer.
A lover of painting, travel and nature, this multi-faceted artist composed 227 musical works that helped revolutionise the world of music at the dawn of the 20th century.

His birthplace is now a museum and houses many of the artist’s personal objects, you can also visit temporary exhibitions related to the artist, as well as an auditorium during concerts.

Precursor of the Impressionist movement, Pissarro arrived in France, in the village of Louveciennes, in 1869.

Recognisable by his patriarchal face, long beard and often wearing a hat, Pissarro liked to depict the verdant landscapes of the French countryside, whose flora contrasted with the landscapes he knew as a child in the Danish West Indies.

This man, known for his kindness, regularly welcomed friends such as Monet and his family with his wife Julie Vellay. To find out more about this incredible painter and his intertwined destiny with Monet, listen to our podcast.

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Renoir was an Impressionist painter, known for many works including the “Déjeuner des canotiers”, which he painted on the balcony of the Maison Fournaise, a famous dance hall on the banks of the Seine in Chatou. He liked to retire there with his muse Aline Charigot, far from the hustle and bustle of Parisian life. This painting was bought by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and presented at the seventh exhibition of the Impressionist painters. Even today, the painting conveys the joie de vivre so characteristic of Renoir, who was nicknamed the “painter of happiness” at the time.

“William Turner was a tireless traveller. This former architect travelled through Wales, England and Scotland, before crossing the English Channel to depict European rivers. One of his most famous French watercolours is of the River Seine, seen from the Terrace of the Domaine de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, with the Château-Neuf de Saint-Germain on the right, where Louis XIV was born.

In 1869, Monet and Renoir worked side by side on the banks of the Seine. During this financially difficult period, in search of inspiration, they looked for new motifs and new ways of using colour. It was in front of the boisterous guinguette of La Grenouillère at the time that they experimented with figures and the treatment of water in the Seine. This gave rise to the Impressionist movement. The history of the Grenouillère can now be seen at the eponymous museum on the Chanorier site.