Elsa Triolet - Aragon watermill

In the middle of a 5-hectare park, the old Villeneuve watermill
transports visitors to the world of Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon. Louis Aragon was a poet, one of the great voices of the Dadaist and Surrealist movements, along with his friends and contemporaries André Breton and Paul Éluard. Elsa Triolet was a Russian novelist known for being the first woman to receive the Prix Goncourt literary award (in 1945) for A Fine of 200 Francs. After the death of his wife and muse, the poet bequeathed the mill to the French nation, with the aim of making it a place of memory, research and support for artistic creation. Each year a cultural season is organised with painting exhibitions, sculpture, photography, meetings with writers and poets, musical performances…

Some of French literature’s most beautiful pages

In the apartment, everything is just as they left it: from the cane casually placed by the chimney, their private letters scattered on the desk, and the tear-off calendar suspended in time on June 16, 1970, the date of Elsa’s death. The library is almost as impressive as the collection of objects and paintings given to them by their friends Picasso, Fernand Léger and Pablo Neruda, displayed alongside contemporary works.

While the apartment-museum is only open for guided tours, you can stroll through the exhibitions and the grounds, or visit the couple's grave. Louis and Elsa were buried side by side, between two beech trees, according to Elsa’s wishes.

Discover other exceptional artists' homes in Paris Region.