Tourism: Val-d'Oise village named one of France's most beautiful villages retains its title

Every year, the program presented by Stéphane Bern entitled " Le Village Préféré des Français" (The French Favourite Village ) on France 3 attracts large numbers of viewers, eager to discover the winners. In 2023, Esquelbecq, in the Hauts-de-France region, won all the votes.

This year, two communes also made it onto the prestigious list of"France's most beautiful villages". Since 1991, the association of France's most beautiful villages has established an approach based on a"quasi-scientific" process and criteria for selecting villages. " With an average of just under 20% of applications accepted, this method has proved its rigor and selectivity, guaranteeing the credibility of the label ", explains the association on its website. As a result, the association now has 174 villages - labeled Most Beautiful in France - spread across 14 regions and 70 départements. At the beginning of July 2023, the villages of Penne-d'Agenais (Lot-et-Garonne) and Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste (Pyrénées-Orientales) joined the list.

But what about Île-de-France? Are there any towns in the region that have been classified as one of France's most beautiful villages? To date, only one Ile-de-France commune has been listed. And you have to go to Val-d'Oise to discover it. Located an hour from Paris, in the Parc Naturel Régional du Vexin français, the village boasts a sumptuous château, making this destination a historic stopover. So, have you guessed which commune I'm talking about? It's La Roche-Guyon. And the good news is that this summer, the town's label was renewed! As our colleagues in Le Parisien remind us, this label is not guaranteed for life. Every six years, the association of France's most beautiful villages carries out a new assessment to ensure that the village still meets the criteria laid down by the labeling committee.

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Many people know La Roche-Guyon for its 12th-century medieval château and its impressive keep, built on the famous " Roche de Gui " and set against a chalk cliff. Over the years and centuries, the château has been home to the de La Rochefoucauld family, kings such as Henri IV and François I, and poets such as Victor Hugo. During the Second World War, the château was occupied by the Nazis, when Erwin Rommel decided to make it his headquarters in February 1944.

But the village of La Roche-Guyon is also known for its natural setting, as it lies in the sumptuous Parc naturel régional du Vexin français, and more precisely on the banks of the Seine. Thanks to the recent installation of a river stop, La Roche-Guyon can also be admired during pleasant cruises on the river.

And if you're a keen walker, there's also a heritage trail to discover the village's treasures, including the château and its vegetable garden, the Seine hillsides national nature reserve, the banks of the Seine, the village's troglodyte heritage and the Saint-Samson church.

So, would you like to discover La Roche-Guyon, the only village in the Paris region to be part of the"Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" association?

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