Chatou is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Yvelines

Yvelines

Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...

 department in the Île-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in north-central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

  14.4 km (8.9 mi) from the center

Kilometre Zero

In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages, is a particular location , from which distances are traditionally measured...

. Chatou is part of the well-off suburbs of western Paris located along the River Seine.

History

On 31 May 1875, part of the territory of Chatou was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Le Pecq

Le Pecq

Le Pecq 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 from the center.-Geography:...

 and a part of the territory of Croissy-sur-Seine

Croissy-sur-Seine

Croissy-sur-Seine is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a small but affluent suburban town on the western outskirts of Paris.-Geography:...

 to create the commune of Le Vésinet

Le Vésinet

Le Vésinet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center....

.
It boasts many bourgeois mansions of every kind of architecture and owned by private individuals.
It is also the host of the Maison Fournaise

Maison Fournaise

The Maison Fournaise is a restaurant and museum located on the Île des Impressionnistes in the Seine in Chatou, west of Paris.In 1857, Alphonse Fournaise bought land in Chatou to open a boat rental, restaurant, and small hotel for the new tourist trade....

, a meeting point for Impressionist painters in the past. It was a place where Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...

 painted numerous pieces (portraits of the Fournaise family, surrounding landscapes etc.), most notably the Déjeuner des canotiers in 1881. The painting is today part of the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C.

Transport

Chatou is served by Chatou – Croissy station on Paris RER line A

RER A

The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...

.

External links

• Official website (in French)