Saint-Mandé

Saint-Mandé is a high-end commune of the Val-de-Marne department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 5.3 km from the center of Paris. It is one of the smallest communes of the Île-de-France by land area, but is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. It is located on the edge of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, near the Porte de Vincennes and the Porte de Saint-Mandé. The motto of the city is Cresco et Floresco, which means "I grow and I flourish".

History
On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, about two-thirds of the commune of Saint-Mandé was annexed to Paris, and now forms the neighborhoods of Bel-Air and Picpus, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris.

In 1929, the commune of Saint-Mandé lost one-quarter of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a small part of which belonged to Saint-Mandé, leaving Saint-Mandé as a small rump commune after the territorial losses of 1860 and 1929.

Personalities

 * Juliette Benzoni (1920–2016), novel writer
 * Charles Berling (b. 1958), actor
 * Françoise Blanchard (1954–2013), actress
 * Maurice Boitel (1919–2007), painter
 * Armand Carrel (1800–1836), political writer, who died there in a duel
 * Gaëtan Charbonnier (b. 1988), footballer
 * Claudette Colbert (1903–1996), actress
 * Georges Courteline (1858–1929), writer and lampoonist
 * Bruno Cremer (1929–2010), actor
 * Alexandra David-Néel (1868–1969), Asian scholar
 * Frédéric Diefenthal (b. 1968), actor
 * Juliette Drouet (1806–1883), mistress of Victor Hugo
 * Grégory Fitoussi (b. 1976), actor
 * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892), caricaturist, founder of Musée Grévin
 * Benoît Chomel de Jarnieu (b. 1955), Naval Admiral
 * Jacqueline Lamba Breton, (1910–1993) was a French painter and married (1934–1943) to André Breton
 * Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), pioneer of cinéma
 * André Moynet (1921–1993), pilot and racing driver
 * Paul Nicolas (1899–1959), footballer
 * Christine Nougaret (b. 1958), archivist
 * Charles Nungesser (1892–1927), aviator
 * Guillaume Jonquieres, footballer
 * Benoît Puga (b.1953), French Army General, Grand Chancellor of the National Order of the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit

Transport
The municipality is crossed by a principal north–south axis, the Avenue du Général-de-Gaulle (formerly Rue de la République), and by an east–west axis, the Avenue de Paris (RN 34). Another important and historical street of the municipality is the Chaussée de l'Étang which goes along the Bois de Vincennes. Saint-Mandé is served by Saint-Mandé station on Paris Métro Line 1. RATP buses include lines 46, 56, 86 and 325. The closest airport is Orly Airport, located around 17 km away.

Education
Schools include:
 * Preschools/nurseries (maternelles): Paul Bert, Charles Digeon, La Tourelle, E.G. Tillion preschool
 * Elementary schools: Paul Bert, Charles Digeon, E.G. Tillion elementary

Junior high school students are served by Ecole & Collège Decroly, and Collège Jacques Offenbach.

The private school system Ensemble Scolaire St Michel de Picpus maintains a secondary campus in Saint-Mandé.

Twin towns
Saint-Mandé is twinned with:
 * Waltham Forest, London, United Kingdom since 21 April 1956
 * 🇩🇪 Eschwege, Hesse, Germany since 23 September 1989
 * 🇺🇸 Concord, Massachusetts, United States since 15 March 1997
 * 🇪🇸 Tres Cantos, Community of Madrid, Spain since 12 March 2005
 * 🇮🇪 Drogheda, Ireland since 9 September 2011
 * Yanggu, Gangwon, South Korea since 12 October 2011
 * Vila Verde, Braga, Portugal since 13 April 2013