In Bougival, the Lattre de Tassigny bridge over the Seine was built in 1968 to continue the axis of the new roadway, the Avenue de la Drionne, crossing the commune.
Inaugurated in June 1971 by Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny, it allows good traffic flow for cars and bikes.
But one of the assets of this bridge, which dominates the Seine, is that it offers pedestrians a magnificent panorama in all seasons over the hillsides of Bougival and the lively river.
Here, a few metres from the old bridge, whose support on the Ile de la Chaussée can still be seen, all the variations of light are reflected in the water.
Already in the 19th century, the crossing of the river had inspired artists: the elegant women ready to take the ferry that the painter W. Turner describes in his watercolour "The River of the City". Turner describes in his watercolour "Embarkation at Bougival" 1830 (British Museum), because it was necessary to take ferries to cross the Seine.
Then a toll bridge was built and inaugurated in 1858: it is the one made famous by Claude Monet's painting "the bridge of Bougival" (Manchester, U.S.A) which was used to reach the island of La Chaussée. From there he could reach La Grenouillère where, with his friend Renoir, he invented a new way of painting the reflections of light on water.
If the animation of a bridge today translates into the sounds of engines and braking, it was different in the 19th century. Loaded carts made their iron-rimmed wheels resound on the cobblestones; people jostled each other, called out to each other, and had to stop to pay the toll at the bridge entrance.
But one of the assets of this bridge, which dominates the Seine, is that it offers pedestrians a magnificent panorama in all seasons over the hillsides of Bougival and the lively river.
Here, a few metres from the old bridge, whose support on the Ile de la Chaussée can still be seen, all the variations of light are reflected in the water.
Already in the 19th century, the crossing of the river had inspired artists: the elegant women ready to take the ferry that the painter W. Turner describes in his watercolour "The River of the City". Turner describes in his watercolour "Embarkation at Bougival" 1830 (British Museum), because it was necessary to take ferries to cross the Seine.
Then a toll bridge was built and inaugurated in 1858: it is the one made famous by Claude Monet's painting "the bridge of Bougival" (Manchester, U.S.A) which was used to reach the island of La Chaussée. From there he could reach La Grenouillère where, with his friend Renoir, he invented a new way of painting the reflections of light on water.
If the animation of a bridge today translates into the sounds of engines and braking, it was different in the 19th century. Loaded carts made their iron-rimmed wheels resound on the cobblestones; people jostled each other, called out to each other, and had to stop to pay the toll at the bridge entrance.
