Every design for Gagny

Under the trees of the Parc départemental de la Fosse Maussoin, it is easy to forget that Paris is only ten kilometres away. Gagny spreads over a slope east of the capital, rising from the Marne and the Canal de Chelles along its southern edge to higher ground in the north, where the Dhuis aqueduct crosses the commune.

The Château de Maison Blanche and the Château de Montguichet are reminders of a time when Gagny had several great houses. The grandest was pulled down in the eighteenth century, and in its park rose the Saint-Fiacre spring that once supplied water to the park of Le Raincy. Another estate, Maison-Rouge, passed through the hands of King Louis-Philippe and a pair of celebrated dressmakers before the town bought it. Today the green spaces carry on that story: the Parc des 33 Hectares, the Parc des Fauvettes and the slopes running down to the river. Nearby stands the memorial to the Taxi de la Marne.

Coming back, the gradient tells you where you are before any sign does: downhill towards the Marne, uphill towards home.