Le Blanc-Mesnil

Le Blanc-Mesnil (French pronunciation: ​[lə blɑ̃.me.nil]) 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 Airport and le Bourget Airport.

For the village and former commune in the Seine-Maritime, see Blanc-Mesnil.
Le Blanc-Mesnil
Commune
The view towards the town hall
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring départements
Location of Le Blanc-Mesnil
Le Blanc-Mesnil
Paris and inner ring départements
Le Blanc-Mesnil
Le Blanc-Mesnil (Île-de-France (region))
Coordinates: 48°56′19″N 2°27′41″E
CountryFrance
RegionÎle-de-France
DepartmentSeine-Saint-Denis
ArrondissementLe Raincy
CantonLe Blanc-Mesnil
IntercommunalityGrand Paris
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Thierry Meignen
Area
1
8.05 km2 (3.11 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
56,783
 • Density7,100/km2 (18,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
93007 /93150
Elevation37–47 m (121–154 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

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 Latin 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.

Geography

Nearest municipalities

History

French Revolution

On 2 December 1792, a third of the territory of Aulnay was detached and became the commune of Le Blanc-Mesnil.

Heraldry
Arms of Le Blanc-Mesnil
 The arms of Le Blanc-Mesnil are blazoned :
Azure, a cross engrailed Or, a canton chequy argent and azure, in 2nd and 3rd a hand appaumy, in 4th a drageoir (sweetsdish) Or

Economy
  • Parc d'activité du Coudray
  • Zone industrielle de la Molette in Blanc-Mesnil, Bourget and Drancy. 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.[2]

French and international companies

Several French companies have their world headquarters in Blanc-Mesnil, such as Forclum and Sicli.

Immigration
Place of birth of residents of Le Blanc-Mesnil in 1999
Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France
72.5% 27.5%
Born in
Overseas France		 Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth1 EU-15 immigrants2 Non-EU-15 immigrants
3.9% 2.7% 5.5% 15.4%
1 This group is made up largely of former French settlers, such as pieds-noirs in Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), and to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France in 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics.

2 An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

Administration

Political life

The following political parties have a permanent base in Blanc-Mesnil:

Mayors

Since Libération

  • Didier Mignot, PC, since 2008.
  • Daniel Feurtet, PC, 1989-2008.
  • Robert Fregossy, PC, 1965-1989.
  • Eugène le Moign, PC, 1945-1965.

Between 1860 and 1945

  • Maurice Lambot, 1943–1945
  • Alfred Dubuissez, 1941–1943
  • Bernard Legrand, 1939–1941
  • Henri Duquenne, PC, 1935–1939
  • Marcel Gerdil, SFIO, 1929–1935
  • André Neufinck, 1908–1929
  • Pierre-Hippolyte Jouslain, 1905–1908
  • Marcel-Edouard Renault, 1892–1905
  • Michel Renault, 1860-1892[3]

Transport

Le Blanc-Mesnil is served by Le Blanc-Mesnil station on Paris RER line B.

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.

Religion

Catholic churches: Église Notre-Dame, Église Saint-Charles, Église Sainte-Thérèse. Evangelic churches: Charisma Église Chrétienne

Education

The commune has the following schools: four preschools in the south, seven preschools in the centre of town, and six preschools in the north. It has four elementary schools in the south, six elementary schools in the centre, and six elementary schools in the north.[4]

Junior high schools:

  • Collège Aimé et Eugénie Cotton
  • Collège Descartes[5]
  • Collège Marcel Cachin
  • Collège Nelson Mandela

Senior high schools:

  • Lycée Jean Moulin
  • Lycée professionnel Aristide Briand
  • Lycée Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Médiathèque Edouard Glissant/Bibliothèque Jacques Prévert serves as the municipal library.[6]

Environment

Parks and gardens
  • Jacques-Duclos Park
  • Vineyards produces Clos blanc-mesnilois, a Chardonnay
  • Vegetal wall of Forum culturel by Patrick Blanc
  • Place de l'eau
  • Jardin de Montillet
  • Square Stalingrad

Sports

Blanc-Mesnil Sports (BMS), founded in 2005, is the city's sport club.

International relations

Le Blanc-Mesnil is twinned with:[7]

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

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Site de Hotels World
  3. Archives municipales
  4. "Les écoles." Le Blanc-Mesnil. Retrieved on September 4, 2016.
  5. "Collège Descartes." French Department of Education. Retrieved on September 4, 2016.
  6. "Médiathèque Edouard Glissant/Bibliothèque Jacques Prévert Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine." Le Blanc-Mesnil. Retrieved on September 4, 2016.
  7. Le Blanc-Mesnil official site, Les jumelages

Bibliography
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil et son passé, Ernest Soitel, 1969.
  • Histoire anecdotique de Blanc-Mesnil, Albert Galicier, 1973.
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil des temps modernes : 1935-1985, 1986.
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil, Pierre Bourgeade, Gilles Smadja, Jean-Pierre Vallorani, Françoise Vasseur, 1992.
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil : citoyens de demain, Patrick Laigre et Jocelyne Héquet, 1993.
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil : 2000 regards, Photographies de Luc Choquer, François Crignon, Erwan Guillard, 1999.
  • Le Blanc-Mesnil, Christian Massart, 2005.
  • Twinning between Le Blanc-Mesnil and Debré-Berhan (in English and French).
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