Medan is an extremely small town located up along the Seine in the Yveline department of Ile-de-France. Though it does a few other historic claims, Medan is best known as the town in which the famed author Emile Zola settled and built his home–the main reason I visited on my Zola ‘pilgrimage’ (2025)
Emile Zola’s home in Medan. The towers on either side of the main house were built as some of his most famous books brought fortune–thus one is called the ‘Tour Nana’ and the other the ‘Tour Germinal’
Just beside Zola’s museum is the museum of Alfred Dreyfus, highlighting the government scapegoating of the Jewish soldier and Zola’s part in revealing the scandal.
Another notable part of the tiny town is its old chateau
The Seine near Medan – much cleaner than at Paris!