Médan

Médan (French pronunciation: [medɑ̃] ⓘ) is a village in the Yvelines department, Île-de-France region, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, about 25 km from the capital.

Médan is located in the Seine Valley, surrounded by the towns of Triel-sur-Seine to the northeast, Villennes-sur-Seine to the south, Orgeval and Morainvilliers to the southeast, and Vernouillet to the northwest.

Maurice Maeterlinck, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, moved to the castle in 1924 where he wrote La vie des Termites and L’Araignée de verre.

During the summer in Médan, Zola hosted Cézanne, his childhood friend, and other artists such as Édouard Manet and Camille Pissarro, and naturalist writers such as Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant and J.K. Huysmans.

The Association, led by financier Pierre Bergé and his partner, fashion designer Yves St. Laurent, spearheaded efforts to restore the house, develop the museum, and add a wing dedicated to Alfred Dreyfus.

The project includes renovation of Émile Zola's house and the creation of the Dreyfus Museum, which will be a place for exhibiting and teaching, for debates and reflection, for memory and vigilance.

Cézanne, Château de Médan (1880)
Émile Zola's House