Every design for Palaiseau

Have you climbed the Sentier de la Gloire? That is what students call the staircase that rises from Lozère station to the École Polytechnique, and if you have, you know how steep the hillside between the Yvette and the Saclay plateau really is. Palaiseau is a town of two levels: the old centre by the river, where writers such as George Sand, Alexandre Dumas and Charles Péguy built villas near the stations once the railway arrived, and the plateau above, home to grandes écoles and research centres.

The Musée du Hurepoix takes its name from the natural region the town belongs to, and keeps its story. Nearby are the Château d'Ardenay and La Batterie de la Pointe, and on the edge of town the Espace Naturel de Vilgénis offers room to breathe. It is a place where families settle: in 2018 Le Parisien ranked Palaiseau the third town in Essonne where it is good to be a parent, and three RER B stations make the trip into Paris easy.

If you raised children here, studied on the plateau or simply walk along the Yvette at weekends, this map is yours. Wear it on the climb.