Sunday 24 June 2012

Dans le quartier des matelots

Countryside? Almost. This is Matelots neighbourhood and these houses will look like railway houses to most French people. Matelot is seaman. It is thought the neighbourhood is called this way because in the XVIIth century, seamen served on the nearby Grand Canal at the palace and lived here. They look like railway houses because there is a train station here, which is now a classification or marshalling yard that was heavily bombed by the Allies in 1944. Nearby was the base of the 5th engineering regiment, specialised in railway engineering until 2010.

La campagne ? Presque. Voici des maisons du quartier des Matelots, qui ressemblent fort à des bâtiments ferroviaires. Pourquoi les matelots ? On dit que les matelots qui servaient sur le Grand Canal au château habitaient ici. De nos jours, il y a une gare de triage à proximité, qui fut sévèrement bombardée par les Alliés en 1944. Egalement dans le quartier, la caserne du 5è régiment du génie, dissous en 2010, qui était spécialisé dans le génie ferroviaire. Plus d'infos sur la gare par ici.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welch schöne Art die Zeit zu messen.

Einen tollen Sonntag dir.

Jack said...

There are houses that look like this in some of the Connecticut shoreline towns like Mystic and Stonington.

Anonymous said...

so much to learn about the world, so little time to learn it!

Halcyon said...

I wouldn't mind living here. Lovely homes!

Randy said...

Very different but nice looking.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

They look very nice to me.

Dina said...

Pretty houses with an interesting history.

Dave said...

It does look like a country town especially with the hard dirt shoulders on the roadside.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I like the way they've been looked after Ciel and the round windows do look a little like 'life buoys' so that fits in perfectly with the seamen theme oui!

Unknown said...

What a very interesting story, Ciel!

EG CameraGirl said...

Interesting bit of history. Hmmm. Strange, but I never think of the Allies bombing Versailles during WWII - the horrors of being an occupied country.

BaysideLife said...

I love buildings with a story to tell.

VP said...

Seamen in railway houses, which don't look bad, at least now... Our railway houses are much worse!

Sylvia K said...

Lovely, interesting old house and a great shot as always, Ciel! I think all of your captures have a story of their own! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Sylvia

Thérèse said...

Elles paraissent bien grandes ces maisons!

Regina K said...

These homes look like many I've seen elsewhere. They also look to be good size.

Wayne said...

It's a beautiful neighborhood with a vivid history. A marshalling yard sounds like a place I'd like to visit!

Cezar and Léia said...

It must be nice to live somewhere between countryside and city... A pleasant place!
God bless you!
Cezar

theconstantwalker said...

Thanks for the info to explain the buildings.. they look like they are well looked after.

Lowell said...

A very interesting commentary, Ciel! I like the houses very much...lots of character and the colors are complementary!

Malyss said...

J'aime les matelots, et si en plus ils ont de belles maisons comme celles-là! :o)

T. Becque said...

This is such interesting history you have here!

A l a i n said...

des matelots à Versailles une autre époques très bien conserver .