Louveciennes

Louveciennes is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, between Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and adjacent to Marly-le-Roi.

Sights

 * Many châteaux from the 17th and 18th century (Château de Voisins, Château du Pont, Château du Parc, Château des Sources)
 * The Pavillon des Eaux, built in 1684 by Louis XIV and given to Madame du Barry by Louis XV
 * The Louveciennes Aqueduct of the Machine de Marly

Culture
Louveciennes was frequented by impressionist painters in the 19th century; according to the official site, there are over 120 paintings by Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, and Monet depicting Louveciennes.

The composer Camille Saint-Saëns lived in Louveciennes from 1865 to 1870.

Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, the most famous female painter of the 18th century, is buried at the Cimetière de Louveciennes near her old home.

Anaïs Nin was a popular Cuban novelist born in Neuilly, an area in Paris and lived in Louveciennes from 1930 to 1936 at 2 bis, rue Montbuisson. The start of her career as an author started in this town.

Marshal Joseph Joffre, the commander of the French Army at the start of the First World War, built a property, La Châtaigneraie, at Louveciennes, and is buried in its garden. The tomb is not open to the public, and can only be seen at a ceremony on 11 November.

Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, died in Louveciennes 19 March 1987.

Orchestra conductor Charles Munch resided in Louveciennes at Place Emile Dreux, in the village of Voisins during the last decade of his life (1958–68). A plaque to that effect has been placed on the residence.

History
Until 1964, Louveciennes belonged to the former Seine-et-Oise département.

NATO had barracks for SHAPE here from 1959–1967, and the American School of Paris was located nearby from 1959 to 1967.

Transport
Louveciennes is accessible by two Paris metro lines: LINE 17 Saint Nom la Bretèche - Le Chesnay - Versailles Rive Droite and LINE 17S: Maule - Le Chesnay - Versailles Rive Droite. Two bus routes to and from Paris which operate a night service are easily accessible. Lines 55-1 and LINE 55 -2 are used to go to Le Celle Saint Cloud, Bougival, and other western suburbs of Paris.

Economy
After SHAPE left France, the French government allocated the property to CII, which soon thereafter became part of CII Honeywell Bull. Groupe Bull still has offices in Louveciennes.

Twin towns
Louveciennes is twinned with:
 * [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|25px]] Radlett, United Kingdom, 20 km north of London – since 1983
 * [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|25px]] Meersburg, Germany, at the shores of Lake Constance – since 1991
 * [[Image:Flag of Romania.svg|25px]] Vama, Romania, 450 km north of Bucharest – since 2000

Notable people

 * Madame du Barry (1743–1793), the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France
 * Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), a prominent portrait painter, official portraitist of Marie Antoinette
 * Armand Gagné (1771–1792), adopted son of Marie Antoinette
 * Alfred Sisley (1839–1899), Impressionist painter
 * Maréchal Joseph Joffre (1852–1931), general
 * François Coty (1874–1934), perfumer, businessman, newspaper publisher, politician and patron of the arts
 * Marcel Jean (1900–1993), Surrealist painter, writer, and sculptor
 * Anaïs Nin (1903–1977), author