Travel Guide Lizy-Sur-Ourcq

Located on the Paris-Reims axis, at the confluence of the Marne and the Ourcq rivers, Lizy-sur-Ourcq, the agricultural centre of Briard, was an industrial and commercial centre: wheat and cloth mills, but also oil mills. A warehouse in the neighbouring countryside, a rural region with multiple valleys and small villages nestled in their hollows, the city also owed its importance to navigation on the Ourcq River. A small Protestant stronghold, Lizy emptied herself of many inhabitants when the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685. It is here that Magu - 1788-1860 - was born, the poet-tisserand - supported by George Sand -, André-Charles Caron, born in 1698 and father of Beaumarchais. The canal de l'Ourcq and the Ourcq cross the city, the Saint-Médard church - 16th century - is the main historical monument. Here we find the "Tableau Bourgeois", the only painting from Île-de-France showing the construction of boats sailing on the canals, the "flutes". Hiking trails - GR 11 -, country paths, horseback riding and cycling tours have an ideal setting here... As you go along, you will meet the old castle and old washhouses, witnesses of a bygone past. The big circus family, the Bouglione, is attached to Lizy. After their many journeys, they come to spend the rest of their lives here. In the cemetery, the many tombs are there to testify to this.