Vaneau: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 10.
Why this name?
On the border of the 6th and 7th arrondissements, under rue de Sèvres, the line 10 station owes its name to rue Vaneau, in honour of Louis Vaneau (1811-1830), a polytechnic student who died in the July Revolution of 1830. It opened a week after the first section of line 10 (Invalides - Croix-Rouge); until then, trains ran through without stopping. Its only entrance, at 42 bis rue de Sèvres, is housed in an Art Deco building, next to the Fellah fountain.
Anecdote
Just before Duroc, a former service connection with line 13 survives, a relic of the old route of line 10 towards Invalides: used by passenger trains until 1937, it is now unused and its rails removed. The station's elliptical vault is higher than the network average, with the lower part of the walls vertical, and the Motte seats there are blue.
Around Vaneau
- Fontaine du Fellah, 90 m away — A fountain of 1806 in the "Egyptian Revival" style that followed the 1798-1801 expedition, on rue de Sèvres, right next to Vaneau station. It is protected as a historic monument.
- Le Bon Marché, 400 m away — The world's first department store, opened in 1852, still one of the most elegant in Paris.
- Square Boucicaut, 450 m away — A small, peaceful square named after the founder of Le Bon Marché, a pleasant green break in the 7th arrondissement.
- Musée Hébert, 110 m away — A museum housed in painter Ernest Hébert's former mansion, devoted to his work.