Platais Island

[1] In 1880, the author Émile Zola bought a little Norwegian-style chalet adjacent to the island (today it is a museum), and frequently invited his artist friends Cézanne, Manet, and Pissarro to find inspiration in the dappled island light.

A stretch of the island known as "Villennes Beach" was a popular seasonal escape for Parisians who could reach it by boat trip downstream from Paris.

The island's susceptibility to flooding has always been its biggest setback for any residential or commercial development.

The Seine Flood Control Plan (PPRI) prohibits any construction along the river.

The resort was originally a naturist one, but the Parisian authorities forced it to adopt minimal clothing by the mid 1930s.