The Maison Fournaise, founded in 1857 by boatbuilder Alphonse Fournaise (seen below in a Renoir portrait), rented skiffs, served meals and had rooms for the night for Parisians weekending in what was then still the countryside.

This is where Paul-Auguste Renoir, a regular here from 1868 to 1884, painted his famous "Luncheon of the Boating Party", a scene on the balcony. In the upper left corner of the masterpiece you can see the grey outline of the Chatou railroad bridge, then fairly new. The railway enabled holidayers from the city to visit the pretty spots along the winding Seine. Chatou, Bougival, Asni�res and Argenteuil soon had riverside amusements � the guinguettes (caf�s that might offer music and dancing), bathhouses, boat rentals and sailing clubs. They went swimming at La Grenouill�re in Bougival.

The midstream island is now called l'Ile des Impressionistes in honour of the good times enjoyed there by Renoir, Monet, Sisley, Caillebotte, Morisot, Manet, Pissarro, de Maupassant, Derain, Vlaminck, Apollinaire and Matisse, among many others.

The Maison Fournaise closed in 1906 and the buildings fell into disrepair. In 1977 the City of Chatou bought the site, and in 1982 the old restaurant was officially recognised for its historic significance and restored.

Now also a museum that exhibits minor 19th-century artists, La Maison Fournaise has since 1990 again been serving meals. When its restoration began in 1984, the Hamlet of Fournaise was founded to revive the island's historic and artistic atmosphere. It includes the National Centre of Engraving and Printed Art, the Association Sequana, which restores vintage Seine boats, and two restaurants, the Fournaise and Les Rives de la Courtille.

Two websites from the current proprietors: the museum and the restaurant.