Every design for Alfortville

Alfortville only became a town of its own in 1885, when a large slice of Maisons-Alfort broke away to form a new commune. It was a natural split: the land here is a narrow strip pinned between the Seine and the Marne at the point where the two rivers meet, a flat ribbon of streets just south-east of Paris.

What gives Alfortville its character is its Armenian community, one of the most significant in France. The Armenian Apostolic Church stands in the south of the town, streets are named after Komitas Vartabed, Missak Manouchian and the city of Yerevan, and a roundabout has become Place d'Achtarak. Daily life moves between the riverbanks, the RER D stations and the cafés and restaurants that keep that heritage alive. Floods are part of the local story too: the whole commune lies in the flood zone, and the great flood of 1910 is still remembered.

With the Musée Fragonard and the Exploradôme close by, school trips never went far. A map of Alfortville keeps that small world between two rivers in one frame.