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Discover Bougival

Come and paint outdoors in Bougival

Welcome to Bougival, the town of the Impressionists ! Discover its beautiful landscapes to paint outdoors. You will find different viewpoints on the map. Click on the map

around Bougival

Offers for groups

Discover our activities for groups. Guided walking tours Historical walk around Bougival Following the Impressionists History of the Seine Nautical activities Expedition on the Seine Museums Museum Turgeniev Booking through the Tourist Information Office : by phone : +33 01 39 69 21 23 by e-mail : laurence.francois@tourisme-bougival.com

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Maurice de Vlaminck

Maurice Vlaminck the self-taught ! Fascinated by music, cycling and writing, his meeting with Derain will give him his vocation of painter! In 1906, Vlaminck (1876-1958) lives in the small village of La Jonchere, situated in the woods near the town of Bougival. Then he resides in the hamlet of St-Michel in Bougival, in this […]

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Guided walking tours for groups

The Tourist Office of Bougival organizes exciting guided tours for groups Tour 1 : In the footsteps of the Impressionists Tour 2 : Vestiges of the “machine de Marly” Tour 3 : Along the river Seine… Tour 4 : Bougival, a village through the centuries We can also organize customized private tours upon request. Do […]

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The locks

The purpose of building a second “Marly Machine”, undertaken under Charles X and later under Napoléon III, was to restore river traffic, by building a lock. The oldest of them was built in 1838 between the Island of La Loge and Gautier Island. Following an increase in the number of small boats passing through its […]

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Bougival’s industrial development

It was not until 1838 that a first lock was built to make sailing possible on the other branch of the Seine, which until then had been unusable. The river very rapidly became the major communication route between Paris and the English Channel. Barge and steamboat traffic, and regular passenger services, became so heavy that […]

around Bougival

Walking to la Celle Saint-Cloud

Download (French) Circuit-Promenade_La Celle Saint Cloud

Impressionists Walk

The Marly Machine Dam – Alfred Sisley

The painting depicts part of the building housing the 6 huge wheels installed across the branch of the Seine. The Machine was finally demolished in 1968, amid general indifference, when a dam for regulating rises in the level of the water in the Seine was built. The small brick edifice was an annex to this […]

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Road from Saint-Germain to Marly – Alfred Sisley

Walking along the Seine and the D113 road, on the right, you pass in front of the Machine buildings which were used to house employees, the administrative buildings and repair workshops. This group of buildings has been listed as a National Heritage Site since 1987. As you go up the ramp by which the Machine […]

Impressionists Walk

Boats at the lock at Bougival – Alfred Sisley

Seen from the Island of La Loge – At the end of the path adjacent to the locks, the artist painted the vivid reflections in the water and did not hesitate to capture the presence of a barge tugboat at the lock by depicting smoke coming out its funnel. The painting portrays the tip of […]

Impressionists Walk

The Marly Machine – Alfred Sisley

From Louveciennes where he settled, Sisley confirmed his talent as a landscape painter exploring the loop in the Seine. The so-called Marly Machine, painted several times, housed the new hydraulic machine that brought water to Marly reservoir. The painter set up his easel opposite it: the precise shapes of the red-bricked building block off the […]

Impressionists Walk

The Factory in the Flood – Alfred Sisley

The flooding of the river Seine in 1872, like the even more famous one in 1876, became a subject to be painted for Sisley. The lock keepers’ house on the Island of La Loge is the main subject of the painting. The latter is reflected in the calm water, an impressive, solid, motionless building. Only […]

Impressionists Walk

Ice floes on the Seine – Claude Monet

Claude Monet captures the misty atmosphere of winter. The depiction of the river and the background are handled with broad strokes of almost monochome paint; the sky and the water blend together in a harmony of grey tones. A few figures, coming to draw some water with their buckets, painted with brisk, precise brushstrokes, create some life on […]

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River landing stage

Bougival’s history is closely linked to the Seine. At the time of the Impressionists, the banks of the Seine were full of life and the inhabitants used to indulge in water-related activities. To develop river tourism in Bougival, an 18 m landing stage is now in operation. The landing stage was built on theIsland of La […]

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River stopping place

To promote river tourism in Bougival, the Island of La Chaussée has been equipped with an 18 m stopping place upstream of Bougival bridge.

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Alfred Sisley

Having shared with Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet the enjoyment of painting in the forest of Fontainebleau, Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) went to join his friends beside the Seine at Bougival in about 1870. It was here that his talent as a landscape painter asserted itself, by choosing to depict the peaceful nature of the countryside with its water, trees […]

Painters in Bougival

Over the years, Bougival has lost none of its beauty. Its shimmering landscapes are still intact and this makes being able to visualise this “impressionist paradise” all the more moving. The message has been received and we are constantly protecting this valuable legacy. But what in fact is so special about Bougival, for it to attract and inspire […]

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The Belle Epoque

In the 19th century, this tranquil spot so close to Paris attracted a number of literary figures (Dumas fils wrote “The Lady of the Camellias” here and Turgenev, etc.) and artists (A. Renoir, C. Monet, A. Sisley, J.L. Gérôme, P. Viardot and G. Bizet who composed “Carmen”, etc.) who would occasionally spend time here. The […]

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Bougival’s Golden Age

The Impressionists This was the time of the “Belle Époque”, with its promenades, its boaters, its guingettes (open-air cafés with dance floors), its restaurants and hotels ! The Boating Party in Bougival and the La Grenouillère Dance in Croissy competed with each other and Parisians jostled each other at them. People went boating everywhere, regattas […]

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Bougival during the reign of the Sun King

In the 17th century, Bougival had 500 inhabitants, but not far away, in Versailles, Louis XIV undertook considerable building work which would eventually disrupt this quiet village of fishermen, winegrowers and small farmers. Indeed, in 1662, Louis XIV decided to build the Château of Versailles and later that of Marly. For 20 years, every possible […]

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Bougival’s origins

While springs gushed forth on the hillsides in contact with clays and marlstone, Bougival’s rivulet, the Drionne, which is canalised today, used to collect this water which long ago formed the valley of “Beudechisilo”. This patronymic, from which the name of our town originates, goes back to the beginning of Merovingian times. As early as […]

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Berthe Morisot

Berthe Morisot lived and worked in Bougival, at 4 rue de la Princesse where she rented a house and spent every summer between 1881 and 1884 there. During 1982, she spent most of the year at the house with her husband Eugène Manet and her daughter Julie. The house had a very large garden full of […]

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Claude Monet

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is without doubt one of the leading impressionists. His name became associated with Bougival, where he painted many times, and with Giverny, a little further along the Seine where his house was situated. “Ice Floes on the Seine at Bougival”, winter 1867-1868, oil on canvas 65×81 cm, Paris, Louvre Museum, Hélène and Victor […]

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Camille Pissarro

A resident of Louveciennes, from spring 1989 until September 1870, then in 1871-1872, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was attracted by the banks of the Seine at Bougival. With his friend, Alfred Sisley, he set up his easel near the lock and depicted the activity of barges on the river. Signs of life are apparent, with smoke coming out […]

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Gustave Caillebotte

The Marly Machine painted by Caillebotte provides a fresh approach to the artist, better known as the “painter of modern life”. Choosing to set up his easel upstream of the dam on the Seine, he painted the theme of the Marly machine that was so often depicted in Sisley’s paintings. However, he has a different touch, the […]