Felled by a storm, the remarkable tree in this Yvelines park was not dead, it will come back to life

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This is the story of a oakseveral centuries old, the oldest in the Maisons-Laffitte park (Yvelines). His fall, spelling his death, during storm Ciaran, at the beginning of November 2023, made many residents very sad.

This emblematic tree of the Cité du Cheval park is about to come back to life, notably through a work of art. A project initiated by the Maisons-Laffitte Park Union Association (ASP). It will be placed in the same place where the oak tree lay a year ago.

“Many local residents expressed great emotion when he fell. They wanted to see him come back to life somehow. »

Part of the trunk will be raised and sculpted

“We explored several ideas. We decided that it would be in two parts,” describes Philippe Troukens. It will first be a matter of raising vertically a end of trunk still in good condition.

We are talking here about a piece of more than 2.50 m high and several tons. “We will sculpt a horse's head at the end, placed on a large base, in reference to our city considered to be the city of the horse,” explains Philippe Troukens.

Benches dug into the rest of the wood

The rest of the tree will be transformed into several benches, hollowed out in the wood. They will be decorated with sculptures foxes, birds and various plants, but also references to horse riding (horse saddles, etc.).

The completion of this project is announced for November 14, 2024. In charge, the artist Christophe Donnard.

“He comes from Brittany. We chose it because it has a fairly rustic and raw style. It corresponded well to the park's desire to maintain a rugged environment. »

“Between 250 and 300 years old”

The memory of oldest oak of the Maisons-Laffitte park will therefore be preserved. “It is difficult to date it, but it was between 250 and 300 years old. He was there before the Revolution,” notes Philippe Troukens.

His size when he was alive? “ 20 or 30 metersperhaps,” the ASP employee tries to estimate. Its trunk is more than a meter wide. Its fall in November 2023 had no impact.

“He fell very gently, he did no damage. He just went to bed. »

Christophe Donnard's work to bring it back to light shouldresist time and bad weather. “We hope to keep this work for many years,” rejoices Philippe Troukens.

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