This vintage Etat Deauville poster offers us, what would now probably be called a drone view of the beautiful seaside resort of Deauville. Back in the day, it would simply be an aerial view or bird’s eye view or possibly even an elevation from a balloon! However you wish to describe it, the vintage French travel poster is superbly illustrated and provides a wonderful insight into the popular coastal town in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The poster map was created by the French illustrator Roger de Valério for the Chemins de Fer de L’Etat, better known in England as the French State Railway. Its purpose was to highlight some of the many facilities and activities open to its tourists. The town had been a popular holiday destination for the Parisienne aristocracy since the 1800s. Deauville is the closest seaside resort to Paris, the city and its region of the Côte Fleurie (Flowery Coast) has long been home to French high society’s seaside houses and was commonly referred to as the Parisian riviera.
Valério‘s impressive Deauville travel poster map depicts a variety of ships, sailing boats, yachts and motor boats both in the blue waters of the English Channel and making their way up and down La Touques to the Port Municipal de Deauville where many more boats are moored. The River Torques is a natural border between the neighbouring old town of Trouville with its narrow hillside streets, old casino and sea spa. But the artist hasn’t included any of this in his image. He has chosen to concentrate only on the ‘modern’ Deauville.
The seafront at Deauville is filled with swimmers, sea bathers and children frolicking and playing in the sea. The fine golden sands on the beachfront are packed with multi-coloured parasols, sunloungers, deck chairs, umbrellas and sunbathers lying on the beach soaking up the delightful French sunshine. Tourists lounge about worshipping the sun. Others exercise and play ball games while locals walk their dogs.
Beyond the beach, dozens more people are meandering along the sandy promenade… the place to see and be seen. The superb white concrete, art deco structure was designed by the Parisian architect Charles Adda. When it was built in 1922 it contained shops, a café-bar, steam baths, a swimming pool, and 250 bath cabins grouped in islands around gardens or ponds. It also housed the popular Pompeian baths. The famous Promenade des Planches isn’t depicted on the poster which suggests the poster was created between 1922 when Les Panches was built and 1924 when the promenade was inaugurated. The success of Les Planches meant the demise of the building and the gardens to the right of Les Planches when the establishment was enlarged in 1928, to take the number of bath cabins up to 450.
Other recreational areas including tennis courts, elaborate gardens and green parks are situated across the Rue de la Mer. Located on the next road up, the Boulevard Éugene Cornuche is the famous Casino de Deauville, which was, and still remains, one of the town’s most visited attractions.
To the left of the Casino is the beautiful half-timbered “Le Normandy” hotel which was built in 1912 for Eugène Cornuché and his partner François André, founders of Groupe Barrière. To the right of the Casino are two small buildings, Villa Perla and Villa Le Circle and to the right of those is another magnificent hotel, the Royal Hotel at Deauville now known as Tesla Hôtel Le Royal Barrière Deauville.
Beyond the residential area is the Rue de la Republique which in the 1920s separated Deauville town from the beautiful French countryside. The road is pictured with a variety of automobiles, omnibuses, and sports cars making their way in both directions. The road was, and still is the main coastal road from Blonville-sur-Mer, to Deauville and beyond to Trouville. It also provides access to two major methods of getting to the resort… the Gare de Trouville-Deaville railway station which is depicted with a busy car park and a steam train at the station… and Deauville Normandie airport which can be seen in the top left of the poster.
The Deauville football ground is conveniently located next to the railway station with just a short walk to the first of Deauville’s famous racetracks, the Hippodrome de Deauville La Torques. The oval course is depicted with its long flat racing straight, grandstand polo pitch in the middle.
To its right is the towering spire of the Église Saint-Augustin de Deauville. Built in 1865 on the outskirts of the seaside town on the heights of Mont Canisy. The area has grown significantly since and now sees the church in the heart of the town.
Travelling right, about two miles from the Deauville Hippodrome is the newer of the town’s two racetracks, the Hippodrome de Clairefontaine or Clairefontaine Racecourse. It is distinguished by the figure of eight layout built within the oval, to allow not just for flat racing, but also trotting, hurdles and steeplechase.
