Le Blanc-Mesnil
Encyclopedia
Le Blanc-Mesnil is a commune
in the northeastern suburbs of Paris
, France
. It is located 12.6 km (7.8 mi) from the center of Paris
, between Charles de Gaulle International Airport
and le Bourget Airport.
Mansionile, meaning "little houses", from Latin
mansio
(accusative
mansionem), and of Germanic (Old Frankish
) blanch, blaun, meaning "glossy, shining, white", which gave French
blanc ("white") and English
blank.
The name is interpreted by some as a reference to the houses of Le Blanc-Mesnil which were whitened due to the flour dust coming from the windmills located there in ancient times. One researcher, however, thinks that blanc had also the meaning of "free" in Old French
, and so the name would mean "free mesnil, free village", perhaps because the villagers had been freed from serfdom
. None of these interpretations is certain.
.
Le Blanc-Mesnil is also served by Drancy station on Paris RER line B
. This station (formerly called Blanc-Mesnil-Drancy), although administratively located on the territory of the neighboring commune of Drancy
, is the closest from the town center of Le Blanc-Mesnil and is thus used by people in Le Blanc-Mesnil.
The bus company provides 17 lines of buses to travel within the city.
Ideally placed at the junction between the A1 and the A3.
2.5 km (1.6 mi) from Le Bourget airport, 7 km (4.3 mi) from Charles-de-Gaulle airport and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, you will be ideally place to get to Parc Astérix and Disneyland as well as the centre of Paris and the Stade de France.
For fifteen years, twinning between le Blanc-Mesnil and Debre Berhan has been based on the development: water sanitation, education, construction of roads. In a rare spirit, that of a collaboration of equal to equal.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the northeastern suburbs of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is located 12.6 km (7.8 mi) from the center of Paris
Kilometre Zero
In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages, is a particular location , from which distances are traditionally measured...
, between Charles de Gaulle International Airport
Charles de Gaulle International Airport
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport , in the Paris area, is one of the world's principal aviation centres, as well as France's largest airport. It is named after Charles de Gaulle , leader of the Free French Forces and founder of the French Fifth Republic...
and le Bourget Airport.
Name
The name Le Blanc-Mesnil was recorded for the first time in the 11th century as Mansionile Blaun. This name is a compound of Medieval LatinMedieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
Mansionile, meaning "little houses", from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
mansio
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
(accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
mansionem), and of Germanic (Old Frankish
Old Frankish language
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
) blanch, blaun, meaning "glossy, shining, white", which gave French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
blanc ("white") and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
blank.
The name is interpreted by some as a reference to the houses of Le Blanc-Mesnil which were whitened due to the flour dust coming from the windmills located there in ancient times. One researcher, however, thinks that blanc had also the meaning of "free" in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
, and so the name would mean "free mesnil, free village", perhaps because the villagers had been freed from serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
. None of these interpretations is certain.
Nearest municipalities
- BondyBondyBondy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Name:The name Bondy was recorded for the first time around AD 600 as Bonitiacum, meaning "estate of Bonitius", a Gallo-Roman landowner.-History:...
- Aulnay-sous-BoisAulnay-sous-BoisAulnay-sous-Bois is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.In October and November 2005, it gained national and international attention as one of the focuses of the French suburb riots.-Name:...
- DrancyDrancyDrancy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.- Toponomy :...
- Le BourgetLe BourgetLe Bourget is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.A very small part of Le Bourget airport lies on the territory of the commune of Le Bourget, which nonetheless gave its name to the airport. Most of the airport lies on the territory of the...
- DugnyDugnyDugny is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.About a third of Le Bourget airport lies on the territory of the commune of Dugny, including its main terminal and the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace...
- Bonneuil-en-FranceBonneuil-en-FranceBonneuil-en-France is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France.Le Bourget Airport is partially located in the commune.-References:** -External links:*...
in Val d'Oise and Gonesse.
French Revolution
On 2 December 1792, a third of the territory of Aulnay was detached and became the commune of Le Blanc-Mesnil.Heraldry
Economy
- Parc d'activité du Coudray
- Zone industrielle de la Molette in Blanc-Mesnil, BourgetLe BourgetLe Bourget is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.A very small part of Le Bourget airport lies on the territory of the commune of Le Bourget, which nonetheless gave its name to the airport. Most of the airport lies on the territory of the...
and DrancyDrancyDrancy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.- Toponomy :...
. It includes Centre Albert Einstein, created in 1987. - Parc Modus
- Garonor
- Pont-Yblon
- Centre d'affaires international Paris Nord II
- Carré des Aviateurs
- Espace Descartes, for tourism business. Three hotels three stars, a Novotel hotel.
French and international companies
Several French companies have their world headquarters in Blanc-Mesnil, such as Forclum and Sicli.Immigration
Political life
The following political parties have a permanent base in Blanc-Mesnil:- Parti Communiste Français
- Parti SocialisteSocialist Party (France)The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
- Union for French DemocracyUnion for French DemocracyThe Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
(UDF) - Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular MovementThe Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
(UMP) - Groupe des VertsLes Verts' is the name of various green political parties in French-speaking countries such as:official name:*Les Verts in France;*Les Verts in Luxembourg ;*Les Verts in Benin;*Les Verts in Mauritius;...
Mayors
| style="font-size: 90%" | Since Libération
|
style="font-size: 90%" | Between 1860 and 1945
|
Transport
Le Blanc-Mesnil is served by Le Blanc-Mesnil station on Paris RER line BRER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
.
Le Blanc-Mesnil is also served by Drancy station on Paris RER line B
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
. This station (formerly called Blanc-Mesnil-Drancy), although administratively located on the territory of the neighboring commune of Drancy
Drancy
Drancy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.- Toponomy :...
, is the closest from the town center of Le Blanc-Mesnil and is thus used by people in Le Blanc-Mesnil.
The bus company provides 17 lines of buses to travel within the city.
Ideally placed at the junction between the A1 and the A3.
2.5 km (1.6 mi) from Le Bourget airport, 7 km (4.3 mi) from Charles-de-Gaulle airport and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, you will be ideally place to get to Parc Astérix and Disneyland as well as the centre of Paris and the Stade de France.
Parks and gardens
- Jacques-Duclos Park
- Vineyards produces Clos blanc-mesnilois, a ChardonnayChardonnayChardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
- Vegetal wall of Forum culturel by Patrick BlancPatrick BlancPatrick Blanc is a botanist, working at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he specializes in plants from tropical forests...
- Place de l'eau
- Jardin de Montillet
- Square Stalingrad
Entertainment
- Forum culturel
- Médiathèque Edouard Glissant, public library
- Deux pièces cuisine, recording studioRecording studioA recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
- Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental, music and dance school
Health
As of 1 January 2007, 16 pharmacies, about 31 general practitioners, and a half dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.International relations
Le Blanc-Mesnil is twinned with- SandwellSandwellSandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
in the West MidlandsWest Midlands (region)The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
region of the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, - Peterhof in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and - Debre BerhanDebre BerhanDebre Berhan is a city and woreda in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, about 120 kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on the paved highway to Dessie, the town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,840 meters...
in EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
For fifteen years, twinning between le Blanc-Mesnil and Debre Berhan has been based on the development: water sanitation, education, construction of roads. In a rare spirit, that of a collaboration of equal to equal.
Personalities
- Amara BabyAmara BabyAmara Baby is a French professional football player. Currently, he plays in the Ligue 2 for LB Châteauroux.-External links:*...
, footballer - Jean-Felix DorotheeJean-Félix DorothéeJean-Félix Dorothée is a French football player. Currently, he plays in the Championnat de France amateur for UJA Alfortville....
, footballer - Élisabeth VonarburgÉlisabeth VonarburgÉlisabeth Vonarburg is a science fiction writer. She was born in Paris and has lived in Chicoutimi , Quebec, Canada since 1973....
, writer of science-fiction. - Patrick HernandezPatrick HernandezPatrick Hernandez is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with "Born to Be Alive" in 1979.-Biography:...
, famous singer of Born to Be AliveBorn to Be AliveBorn to Be Alive is a 1979 album by Belgian singer Patrick Hernandez and also a song on this album.The album's title track, written by Hernandez, was a significant worldwide pop hit and also hit number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart...
, and Grand Corps MaladeGrand Corps MaladeFabien Marsaud better known by his stage name Grand Corps Malade, often abbreviated GCM, born on July 31, 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France is a French slam poet-Biography:...
, slameur, are born in this town. Casey, SheryoSheryoSheryo is a French-language rapper and member of the hip hop collective, DSP, former member of Anfalsh. He’s one of the top hardcore rappers in France, he avoids national radios, tv or specialized press....
, and BunzenBünzenBünzen is a placename:in Switzerland* Bünzen, Switzerland, in the Canton of Aargauin Germany* Bünzen, Germany, a locality of Aukrug in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district...
, rappers. - Gary Lugassy, tennis player, Tristan ValentinTristan ValentinTristan Valentin is a French professional road bicycle racer. He tested positive for Heptaminol on 6 June 2006. The UCI summary of 'Decisions on Anti-Doping Rule Violations made in 2006' states "disqualification and ineligibility for 6 months".- Palmares :2005- External links :**...
, Morgaro GomisMorgaro GomisMorgaro Gomis is a Senegal international footballer who plays for English Football League Championship club Birmingham City....
, Moussa SissokoMoussa SissokoMoussa Sissoko is a French football player of Malian descent who currently plays for French club Toulouse in Ligue 1. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in either the holding role or as an attacker. Sissoko is described as a "well-rounded central midfielder" who is "tall,...
, Jérémy AbadieJérémy AbadieJérémy Abadie is a French football player, who currently plays for Blanc Mesnil SF .-External links:...
, footballer, are born in Blanc-Mesnil. Jonathan BiabianyJonathan BiabianyJonathan Ludovic Biabiany is a French footballer who currently plays as a winger or striker for Serie A club Parma on loan from Sampdoria.-Youth career:...
played in BMS Football. - Sylvie GuillemSylvie GuillemSylvie Guillem CBE is a French ballet dancer. She was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She is currently performing contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's...
star dancer at Paris Opera - Mickael MarolanyMickael MarolanyMickael Marolany is a retired French footballer who played 116 matches in Ligue 2 for clubs Beauvais,Louhans and wasquehal in the period 1992-2003 .-References:...
,footballer - Fabrice N'SakalaFabrice N'SakalaFabrice N'Sakala is a French football player who currently plays for French club Troyes AC in Ligue 2. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but is also capable of playing as a full back...
, footballer - Moussa SissokoMoussa SissokoMoussa Sissoko is a French football player of Malian descent who currently plays for French club Toulouse in Ligue 1. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in either the holding role or as an attacker. Sissoko is described as a "well-rounded central midfielder" who is "tall,...
, footballer - Ludovic SylvestreLudovic SylvestreLudovic Sylvestre is a French football player of Guadeloupean descent. He plays in England for Blackpool...
, footballer
See also
- Peterhof
- SandwellSandwellSandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
- LamoignonLamoignonLamoignon is the name of both an important French family and the town of their origin.*Guillaume de Lamoignon , lawyer*Nicolas de Lamoignon , Guillaume's second son, public official*Chrétien François de Lamoignon...
- Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department