In Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, an unusual chapel on the water, open to all

75 meters long, the boat "Je sers" is quietly moored near the Quai de la République in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Yvelines. Bluish colors and flowerpots delicately decorate its façade. Built in 1919, this concrete barge - classified as a historic monument in 2021 - was originally used to transport coal.

In 1936,Abbé Bellanger bought it, and - true to the promise he had made to one of his seafaring friends - transformed it into a place of worship to help the boatmen. While this community has dwindled considerably over the decades, the chapel continues to host weddings, funerals and daily masses, conducted by four Assumptionist priests.

Inside this floating chapel, you'll find a classic nave, wooden benches and a flower-filled altar. But when you look up, you'll be reminded that you're no longer on dry land by the presence of certain elements - stained-glass windows, a hanging rudder, a miniature replica of a ship....

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Surprisingly, it's probably one of the only religious places where you can have an aperitif after mass! " We have a bar on the boat, with a type IV license," says Jean-Marc Grillet, manager of one of the two associations that run the chapel.

The place has chosen to combine (Christian) words with deeds. Alongside the services, meals are served, food is distributed, clothes are collected and a solidarity library is set up... The boat also offers accommodation - in small boats attached to the floating chapel - to those who need it, accompanying them on the road to reintegration.

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