{"id":17503,"date":"2026-03-27T18:21:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antimuseum.com\/?p=17503"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:17:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:17:56","slug":"picture-this-saint-germain-en-laye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antimuseum.com\/en\/2026\/03\/27\/picture-this-saint-germain-en-laye\/","title":{"rendered":"Picture this: Saint-Germain-en-Laye"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few photos of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a town where I was fortunate enough to spend many happy years. This post is a way of keeping alive an old piece I wrote for a now-defunct local paper, C\u00f4t\u00e9 Yvelines.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture this: Saint-Germain-en-Laye<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Saint Germain-en-Laye: All that is left from the 17th century chateau built by Louis XIII. The only bit. that is left is this red tower where Louis XIV is supposed to have been born, even though it’s very dubious <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some years ago, I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by Olivier Bassine for C\u00f4t\u00e9 Yvelines. The paper has long since folded, but I held onto the text \u2014 and here it is, reproduced in full. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a short interview about Saint-Germain-en-Laye \u2014 why I love the place<\/a>, a few things worth seeing, and memories of a town I am genuinely fond of, having lived there \u2014 on and off \u2014 for the best part of fifteen years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have added original photos taken fairly recently, on one of those rare winter days that felt almost like spring \u2014 temperature just nudging above zero, with dramatic cloud formations offering something other than the usual flat grey. C\u00f4t\u00e9 Yvelines was a free magazine, available online and distributed through bakeries and at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye RER station, as well as other towns across the Yvelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

by Olivier Bassine, C\u00f4t\u00e9 Yvelines<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yann Gourvennec is a devoted fan of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Based in Paris these days, he still returns regularly to photograph and paint the royal town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sort of place you’d want to move into<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“I’m in Paris now, but I’d have been perfectly happy staying in Saint-Germain. This neo-Gothic house (below) dates from 1850 \u2014 one of those extraordinary nineteenth-century buildings that seem to reach back longingly towards the Middle Ages. Every time I walked home along the rue de Tourville, I went right past it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s seen better days \u2014 the stonework is badly weathered by pollution \u2014 but it’s still a beautiful thing, and you’d find yourself wondering what it would be like to live there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Saint-Germain-en-Laye\"<\/a>
The neo-Gothic house (1850) on rue de Pontoise. The ornamental stonework around the doorway is exquisite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ch\u00e2teau park kiosks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There’s a real holiday feel to this spot \u2014 especially once the weather picks up. Sun loungers appear on the ch\u00e2teau terrace, and you could quite easily convince yourself you were somewhere rather more exotic. Oddly, it’s quieter in summer, which is precisely when it’s at its best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Saint-Germain-en-Laye\"<\/a>
The kiosks on the Terrace in the ch\u00e2teau park: a proper holiday atmosphere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The terrace: made for walking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I first came across the terrace of the Ch\u00e2teau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1984, during my military service at the Ministry of Defence on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. They’d bring us out here for physical training. When I later moved back to Saint-Germain \u2014 being keen on mountain biking and running \u2014 I found myself on it constantly. It’s hard to resist: a sweeping, tree-lined straight, 2.5 km from end to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A timeless classic: the terrace walk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The backstreets of Saint-Germain-en-Laye<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These narrow lanes are one of Saint-Germain’s defining features \u2014 there are plenty of them, and they never lose their charm. They’re also irresistible subjects for photographs and watercolours (this one leads onto the rue au Pain). I never actually lived in one of these little streets, but I’ve always thought I’d have loved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The backstreets \u2014 one of Saint-Germain’s great charms (here, rue au Pain).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are many other treasures in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, hidden or not. Here is a full-fledged photo gallery made of the photos taken during that outing in one of the most enchanting places west of the French capital city.\u00a0It’s a slideshow, all you have to do is click the arrows to move from picture to picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n