Yvelines is a department of Ile de France.
Geography
Yvelines is a department in Ile de France region, situated west from Paris. It’s famous for the quality and diversity of its landscapes, combined with its rich architectural heritage.
The Yvelines area boasts an ideal geographical location. To the east, Paris and its airports, (Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly) are within easy reach. To the west, the department looks out onto Normandy, the Chartres area and the Loire valley.
The eastern part of the department as well as its northern part along the Seine, are part of the Paris metropolitan area, but the rest of the department is rural, much of it covered by the Rambouillet Forest.
As France’s eighth largest department in terms of population size, 80% of the Yvelines region is comprised of natural areas, including 70 ha of forests.
Two regional national parks can be found: the parc de la Haute Vallee de Chevreuse and part of the parc du Vexin Francais.
The administrative centre is Versailles. Other towns include Rambouillet, Mantes, and Poissy.
Towns
The town of Versailles possesses an elegance and style reminiscent of Paris and of course the fact it was once the centre of government. It’s world-famous by the Chateau de Versailles which with its domain occupies 830 hectare. Picturesque surroundings and a harmonious blend of old and new have endowed Versailles with a unique identity and a remarkable quality of life. The city is also home to a flourishing arts scene and a range of athletic facilities. There are 5 street marketplaces with fresh products and specialities.
Poissy is a town with many historical, cultural and geographical attractions. The most visited sites are: Notre-Dame collegiate church, Abbey enclave, hamlets of Poissy, Villa Savoye and toy museum. The town is known for hosting the former Simca factory, now one of France’s largest Peugeot factories.
Mantes is the third largest town in the Yvelines area. Situated close to the French Vexin regional nature park, Mantes-la-Jolie (Pretty Mantes) is a wonderful example of that old expression “a town in the countryside”.
Rambouillet is famous for its vast forest as well as its beautiful castle which hosted several international summits. It has long been an occasional seat of government. Many other buildings owned by substantial political figures are to be found in the town and nearby area.
Activities
With 9 castles, 6 royal villages, France Miniature park, zoological park de Thoiry, 40 museums, majestic parks and monuments there is large choice of place of interest to see.
After visiting, you can hike, horse riding, mountain biking, fishing, sailing, kayaking, water skiing or join on the aero clubs.
Yvelines is home to one of France’s best known golf courses, La Tuilerie-Bignon, in the village of Saint-Nom-la-Breteche but apart from this one there are 23 different golf courses.
The area offers plenty of cultural events all over the year. The most popular are: Grandes Eaux Musicales de Versailles castle, village festivals, art exhibitions, Christmas market, medieval events and music festivals. However, some of the biggest French festivals are in Versailles. There are at least 2 festivals running each month but one of the best events to take place in Versailles and throughout France is Bastille Day, on 14th July.
In Mantes there is an unusual festival of robots, Festival Bulles de Mantes (of comic strips) and Festival Blues sur Seine.
In Rambouillet there is a traditional parade and the election of the Queen du Muguet (lily), every 2 years it celebrates Saint Lubin where the town is decorated with traditional colours and people dressed in the old way and there is also the festival du Printemps with music concerts and poetry.
Gastronomy
The agricultural vocation of the department gives rise to a host of different kinds of crops and livestock.
The must to try in this region are delicious foie gras with richly perfumed honeys, creamy goat’s cheese with good fresh eggs and Noyau de Poisssy.
Useful information:
Tourism office in Yvelines:
www.francetourism.com
Maps of Yvelines:
www.ign.fr
www.viamichelin.com
Travel from the UK
By air: Easyjet flies from Belfast, Liverpool Newcastle and London Luton to Paris.
Ryanair flies from Shannon, Dublin and Glasgow to Paris.
By rail: Eurostar go from London to Paris in just 2h35.
By car: You can travel by car to Paris by taking the ferries which go from Dover to Calais and then you can take the Motorway to Paris.
You can also cross the channel with the Eurostar and stop at Calais. Then you will travel on the motorway directly to Paris.
Our team of sale advisers at Sextant Properties will be happy to help you to find a property in Yvelines. We have a large network of partners in Yvelines. All of them are registered French real estate agents and speak both French and English. Whatever kind of property you are looking for: farmhouse, longere, barn, gite, B&B, country house, mill, castle or chateau, we will do our best to find a property in Yvelines matching your requirements.