Choisy-le-Roi

*Choisy-le Roi*

Once I happened to drive across a suburbon town named Choisy-le-Roi, where there is a statue of 'Rouget de Lisle' who is known for writing the 'Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin' in 1792, which would later became 'La Marseillaise' the French National anthem. You know all about that.

And again, last year I happened to go to the same town by metro. When I came out of the metro station , first thing I could see was the Church St Nicolas, architecturally the very structure of the church was so uncommon. When I walked past, I could notice the words 'Liberté- Égalité Fraternité' written on the other entrance of the church. I said to myself, Hé, there must be some interesting stuff to learn about this town.... 

And here goes the story... not story but History! 

One of the daughters 'légitimée' of Louis XIV had a castle in that 'bourg'. In 1739, after her death, her Chittapa Louis XV started using that castle, as that 'chosen' place is ideal for hunting and amusements, right at the junction of 'forêt de Senart' and on the banks of river Marne. As the King started spending more and more time in that village, they started calling the village 'Choisy le Roi. Latter Mme de Pompadour installed there to make the place more and more festive... 

(où seuls les intimes du roi, et quelques courtisans, sont invités à partager un repas respectant un service à la française : poissons de mer et de rivière, gibiers à plume et à poil, blanquette de veau, bœuf, légumes verts, fruits, glaces y sont servis avec profusion et délicatesse dans la porcelaine de Sèvres....) 

Droit divin oblige, decision was made to build a new church, but Louis XV ordered that the bell tower must be as short as possible, in order not to get disturbed by the church bell in the mornings. The reason why the church has a bizarre architecture..

Well the fun continues with Marie-Antoinette e.i. the unfortunate queen of Louis XVI. And in 1789, fun parties come to an end with the french revolution. 

Royalist Rouget de Lisle join Robespierre and Danton. the name of the village got changed to Choisy-sur-Seine. The nearby village 'Bourg-La-Reine' become 

Bourg-de-l'Égalité. Revolutionists occupy the church, and changing hands between the church and government, today the building is just a museum. 

During the Napoléon III, 'Le Second Empire' (I love this period very much 😍) when the Paris got rebuilt by Haussman, Choisy-le-Roi got also it's own share of rehabilitation and by getting back its royal name. 

PS: 

 Rouget de Lisle's tomb is in  Choisy-le-Roi, but his remainings transfered to Invalides en 1915, where lies also Napoleon I. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GSLniRgKC6X1Tc8d7