For some time now we've been talking about renting a place on the Picardie Coast and now we have found it: Villa Parisienne.
The Villa Parisienne is located in the seaside resort town of Mers-les-Bains on the French shore of the Channel. It is one of two sister buildings, the other is Villa Française. Built sometime between 1902 and 1907 for Edouard Desportes, a hôtelier in the nearby town of Le Tréport, the buildings were designed by Parisian architect and interior designer Edouard-Jean Niermans. Niermans' better known works include the Angelina's on the rue de Rivoli, the Brasserie Mollard across from the Gare Saint-Lazare, the Moulin Rouge, the Folies Bergère as well as other several theaters in Paris, the Hotel Negresco in Nice and the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz.
Mers-les-Bains is located on the border between Normandy and Picardie. Prior to the mid 19th century it was a small fishing village. The construction of the Paris-Le Tréport railroad ligne brought the town within a three-hour reach of well-to-do Parisians who wanted to indulge in the newly popular fashion of ocean baths. The second half of the 19th century saw a boom in construction of shore front villas decorated with brightly painted and carved wooden balconies and trim, bow-windows and architectural ceramics.
Mers-les-Bains is located on the border between Normandy and Picardie. Prior to the mid 19th century it was a small fishing village. The construction of the Paris-Le Tréport railroad ligne brought the town within a three-hour reach of well-to-do Parisians who wanted to indulge in the newly popular fashion of ocean baths. The second half of the 19th century saw a boom in construction of shore front villas decorated with brightly painted and carved wooden balconies and trim, bow-windows and architectural ceramics.
