Marne-la-Vallée, France

Marne-la-Vallée is a new French town located east of Paris, in the Île-de-France region, on the left (south) bank of the Marne.

The new city developed from the 1960s, when the first master plan for land use planning and town planning (SDAU) was developed, entrusted to Paul Delouvrier, delegate general for the District of the Paris region from 1961 to 1969, which was therefore considered the father of new towns in France.

In 2016, it had a total of 316,171 inhabitants over 171.24 km2, for an average density of 1,846 inhabitants / km2. Relatively large, it stretches over twenty kilometers from west to east (from Bry-sur-Marne to Bailly-Romainvilliers), i.e. before the extension of the intervention perimeter of public development establishments carried out in 2017. First organized into four sectors, the different municipalities that make up Marne-la-Vallée then grouped together into different inter-municipal authorities (see the Composition section below).

Its inhabitants are called the Marnovallians.

 

Sights

Chessy with "Sealife Paris Val d'Europe" and the "Sculptures de la Dhuys"
Serris with its regional shopping center "Val d'Europe" and "Vallée Village"
Château and park of Champs-sur-Marne
Noisy-le-Grand with its listed church of Saint-Sulpice and Notre-Dame, its Villa Cathala, its Espace Michel-Simon, the Palacio d'Abraxas and Picasso's Arenas, its Ballon monument, its Clos-Saint- Vincent, its parks, its Fort de Villiers (being restored) and its regional shopping center "Arcades"
The municipal museums of Villiers-sur-Marne, Bry-sur-Marne, Lagny-sur-Marne and soon Noisy-le-Grand (currently associative)
The Louis-Braille Museum in Coupvray
Noisiel with its former Menier chocolate factory, the Buisson farm, its former working-class town and its English-style park
Bussy-Saint-Georges with its N.D. du Val church, the largest Buddhist temple in Europe and the Russon mill
Bussy-Saint-Martin with the "Rentilly-Michel-Chartier Cultural Park"
Torcy with its old Charmettes castle with park, its "Bay 1" shopping and leisure center, and its leisure and outdoor center
College with its regional shopping center "Bay 2"
Lagny with its Notre-Dame-des-Ardents collegiate church, its old Saint-Furcy church, its old abbey (current town hall) and its river base
The banks of the Marne, from Lagny-sur-Marne to Bry-sur-Marne, via Torcy, Noisiel, Champs-sur-Marne and Noisy-le-Grand.

 

What to do

Disneyland Paris – tourist heavyweight in Seine-et-Marne and Île-de-France, after Paris.
Rentilly-Michel-Chartier Cultural Park Bussy-Saint-Martin
Espace Michel-Simon Noisy-le-Grand – Performance hall.
Le Bijou Noisy-le-Grand – The municipal art house cinema.
La Ferme du Buisson Noisiel – Performance hall, national stage.
Cinema of Lagny-sur-Marne Lagny-sur-Marne
Municipal cultural centers (In Villiers-sur-Marne, in Bry-sur-Marne, in Noisy-le-Grand, in Champs-sur-Marne, in Emerainville, in Noisiel, in Torcy, in Lagny-sur-Marne, in Saint -Thibault-des-Vignes, in Bailly-Romainvilliers, in Chessy)
The shopping centers of Villiers-sur-Marne, Noisy-le-Grand (cinemas), Torcy (cinemas), Collégien, Montévrain and Serris
The municipal swimming pools and aquatic centers of Villiers-sur-Marne, Noisy-le-Grand, Emerainville, Torcy, Lagny-sur-Marne, Bailly-Romainvilliers and Coupvray
River tourism and water sports on the Marne
First flights and flying lessons at Lognes aerodrome.
The Mots Buée festival in the towns of Val Maubuée
The Baroque Frisson festival, the Autumn Jazz Festival, the Ritournelles Festival and the Rando Méli-Mélo in the municipalities of Marne and Gondoire
The Printemps de Paroles festival at the Rentilly-Michel-Chartier cultural park in Bussy-Saint-Martin
The Chemins de Traverse festival at Espace Michel-Simon and the Games festival at Villa Cathala in Noisy-le-Grand
Classical and singing concerts at the Château de Champs-sur-Marne, the Notre-Dame-des-Ardents collegiate church in Lagny-sur-Marne, the Notre-Dame-du-Val church in Bussy-Saint-Georges, the Saint-Sulpice church in Noisy-le-Grand and the various municipal cultural centers, MJC and MPT
The international piano competition, the "Beauty will save the world" festival and the international FILM festival in Lagny-sur-Marne
Garage sales, flea markets, barter and flea markets in Torcy, Noisiel, Magny-le-Hongre, Serris, Lagny-sur-Marne and Noisy-le-Grand
The Antiques Fair and Brocante of Noisy-le-Grand
The Strides of Bussy-Saint-Georges and Noisy-le-Grand
The Oxy-Trail, the second in Île-de-France after Paris, and Val Maubuée en Fête, in the Noisiel park, and the Pulp festival at the Ferme du Buisson
The Marne and Gondoire Marathon
The harvest at Clos Saint-Vincent in Noisy-le-Grand
The carnivals of Noisy-le-Grand and Lagny-sur-Marne
The Noisy-le-Grand Christmas market, the most authentic and largest in Île-de-France, with a mobile ice rink
Lagny-sur-Marne Christmas Fairies, with mobile ice rink
The medieval festival at Villa Cathala in Noisy-le-Grand
The Marne festival of the neighboring municipalities in Seine-et-Marne
The Festival of Nature in the Paris-Vallée de la Marne conurbation
Sport in celebration and Les Musicales de Val d'Europe
Music Festival, Cinema Festival, European Night of Museums, European Heritage Days, European Days of Crafts, Industry Week, National Crafts Week, New Year's Eve Chinese, the forum of Associations, sports meetings, markets, in certain municipalities.

 

Buy

Les pavés de Lagny, creation of the master chocolate maker Jérôme Lépinay, rocks made with chocolate, almond and hazelnut pralines, ginger and orange peel.
Dry white wine from Clos Saint-Vincent and honey from Villa Cathala in Noisy-le-Grand.
Brie honey, jams and jellies from small local producers.
La Cueillette du Plessis in Chanteloup-en-Brie, a vegetable garden, market and basket, where you can mainly find local products from Briard and Seine-et-Marnais.
Baker-patissier-chocolatier-glacier Claude Legrand Lagny – Offers many specialties including Choc'o'fruits with mandarin ganache and orange ganache coated in milk chocolate or Choc'o'apéro with goat cheese, grapes, Reblochon almonds or Roquefort walnuts or French tradition baguette with natural sourdough.
Ferme de Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes – Here you can find good milk fresh from the farm as well as all its by-products, and even some products from the Briard region.
La Vallée Village Logo indicating a link to the website Logo indicating a Wikipedia link (near the Val d'Europe Regional Shopping Center in Serris) – There are around a hundred low-cost brand name shops.

 

History

In the 1960s, to cope with the rapid development of the Parisian agglomeration, it was decided to control its development by creating several new towns around Paris. The development of the first master plan for land use planning and development (SDAU) was entrusted to Paul Delouvrier, delegate general for the District of the Paris region from 1961 to 1969, who was therefore considered to be the father of new towns in France.

To the east of Paris, the choice of development fell on the valley of the south bank of the Marne made up of small villages and hamlets, very little urbanized at the time, and which therefore had large land reserves that were easily mobilized. . Unlike other new towns, such as Cergy-Pontoise or Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Marne-la-Vallée will not be organized around a single urban center created from scratch, but rather around many urban centers, linked by the RER and the A4 motorway, the two major axes of the new town. This layout model is inspired by the new Swedish towns, built in the suburbs of Stockholm, and offers real advantages in terms of urban density and transport.

For practical and logical reasons, urbanization was decided from west to east, on the basis of four development sectors: Porte de Paris, Val Maubués, Val de Bussy, Val d'Europe. The oldest districts of the new city are therefore located in sectors 1 and 2 (Porte de Paris and Val Maubués) around the existing city centers. Their development is now almost complete. Sectors 3 and 4 are currently booming and in full urbanization.

Since the extension of Epamarne's scope of intervention, certain sectors of the new town have seen their names changed: sector 1 Porte de Paris has become Métropole du Grand Paris, Val Maubués is Paris-Vallée de la Marne, Val de Bussy is Marne-et-Gondoire.

 

Eat

Some good recommended addresses for French gastronomic restaurants:

The Auberge du Pont de Bry - La Grappille Bry-sur-Marne
The Clos du Château in Champs-sur-Marne.
The Chessy Table Chessy
The Golden Eagle Croissy-Beaubourg
The Baron at the castle of Ferrières-en-Brie.
The Relais de Guermantes Inn Guermantes
The Lognes Briefing
The Interpreter at Serris.
The Torcy Talk
Auberge des Charmettes Torcy
The Old Inn Villeneuve-le-Comte
La Villa, B28, L'Atelier Saint-Père, La Chapelle des Gourmets in Lagny-sur-Marne.
Sweets in Villiers-sur-Marne.
Le Petit Magot and Vinalia in Noisy-le-Grand.
Also many chain or independent restaurants serving foreign cuisine (Asian, Italian, Oriental, etc.), not to mention cafeterias, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, food trucks, markets and food shops.