Citroënvie Member Geoff Miller was vacationing in Paris earlier in the month and made a point of visiting Parc André Citroën, the site where the Quai de Javel Citroën factory once stood.
The Quai de Javel was Citroën’s first and arguably most famous manufacturing plant, located just 3 kilometers from the Eiffel Tower, in the 15th Arrondissement. The factory began producing Citroën cars in 1919, and turned out some of the company’s most iconic models up until April 1975 when the last DS rolled off the assembly line and the factory was subsequently demolished during an eight year period, between 1976 and 1984.
Though André Citroën died in Paris of stomach cancer in 1935 and was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, on October 9, 1958, while the Paris Motor show was running, the city fathers renamed the Quai de Javel as the “Quai André-Citroën.” In 1992, a public garden was built on the site and named in honour of André Citroën; now known as Parc André-Citroën.
As Geoff says; “Gone but not forgotten.”
I happen to spend most summers about 2kms from the park; it is a vast and beautiful park with unusual and interesting features, including a helium filled anchored passenger balloon that takes you 110 meters high for a great view of Paris. (14E). Also nearby, the metro station “Javel” is worth visiting with many Citroën “reminders”.
In one of the photos (the aerial one) you can see the shadow of the passenger balloon.
I visited the parc last summer but sadly I was not impressed. I also made a point to go to Le Bistro d’André which was not yet open but they let me take some photos, again, anti-climatic. The metro stop is worthwhile though!