Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine

French commune|nomcommune=Sceaux
Château in the Parc de Sceaux

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mapcaption=Paris and inner ring départements
lat_long=coord|48|46|41|N|2|17|33|E
région=Île-de-France
département=Hauts-de-Seine
arrondissement= Antony
canton=
insee=
cp= 92330
maire= |mandat=
intercomm= Communauté d'agglomération
des Hauts de Bièvre
alt moy=|alt mini= |alt maxi=
km²= 3.60
sans=
19,400
19,494
date-sans=July 1, 2005 estimate)
(March 8, 1999 census
dens= 5,389|date-dens=2005|

Sceaux is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.7 km (6 miles) from the center of Paris.

Wealth

Sceaux is famous for the Château of Sceaux, set in its large park ("Parc départemental de Sceaux"), designed by André Le Nôtre, measuring 2 km². The original "château", demolished during the Revolution, was built by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of finance to Louis XIV and purchased by Louis' illegitimate son, the duke of Maine in 1699. His duchesse held court in a glittering salon at Sceaux in the first decades of the eighteenth century.

The present château, rebuilt 1856-62 in a Louis XIII style, is now the museum of Ile de France open for visits.

Sceaux is a very pretty city, especially downtown with its main pedestrian full of luxury shops such as bakeries, bookstores and chocolate sellers. This street is rue Houdan.

Housing costs are extremely high, higher than in many districts of Paris, especially with streets facing the "Parc de Sceaux", in the "Quartier des musiciens" and the west side of the "Quartier des Blagis".

Sceaux is listed as the 44th richest city of France.

Transport

Sceaux is served by three stations on Paris RER line B: Sceaux, Robinson, and Parc de Sceaux (this last station is located at the border between the commune of Sceaux and the commune of Antony, on the Antony side of the border).

Sceaux is connected to the A86 motorway that circles around Paris. The commune also offers a developed network of buses which are often used by the "Scéens" (name given to the people who live in Sceaux).

Education

Sceaux hosts two public high schools, the lycée Marie Curie (enrollment 2,000) and the lycée Lakanal (enrollment 3,000). The lycée Lakanal was named after a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France, Joseph Lakanal and has remained one of the most prestigious and hardest schools of Île-de-France. The school also offers a middle school and highly ranked "classes préparatoires" undergraduate training. Famous French scientists and writers have graduated from lycée Lakanal, such as Jean Giraudoux, Alain-Fournier and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. The Faculté Jean Monnet, the college of Law and Management of University of Paris-XI (Orsay), is also located in Sceaux.

The boarding academy Kadic Junior High School on "Code Lyoko" based on the lycée Lakanal.

Cultural life

Sceaux is home to one theater, the théâtre des Gémeaux, located in the quartier des Blagis which is part of the "Scène Nationale" network of the major theaters in France. The théâtre des Gémeaux attracts viewers from all Ile de France and Paris.

The commune also has a small movie theater, the Trianon, where international movies are released in their respective language and subtitled in French. The theater is also famous for showing independent films and hosting special events. In 2006, a debate revolving around ecology was organized and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was shown.

Sceaux has also been a place where various music events have taken place. In August 1987, Madonna performed at Parc de Sceaux during her "Who's That Girl Tour" to a crowd of 130 000. Famous-French-rockstar Johnny Halliday also gave a concert there on June 2000.

Twin towns

* Royal Leamington Spa (United Kingdom)
* Brühl (Germany)

ee also

* Ligne de Sceaux

External links

* [http://www.sceaux.fr/ Sceaux official website] (in French)