Postcard Vittel, Dans le Parc, spa guests in the thermal park

Sepia postcard of the thermal park of Vittel in the Vosges, published by Braun & Cie, Mulhouse-Dornach, as number 1667 in the Collection Les Vosges. The composition shows a wide gravel avenue disappearing into the depth, flanked by orderly flower beds on the left and right. Along the right side of the path is a row of metal folding chairs on which seven spa guests sit: men in dark suits and caps, women in light summer dresses, some in conversation, others reading. In the background, an imposing weeping willow forms the dominant visual mass, alternating with evergreen leafy trees. The printed caption "1667 VITTEL - DANS LE PARC" appears at the bottom. The card is in good condition, with some slight discolouration at the edges and on the reverse.

Vittel was developed from 1855 onwards into one of the most important French spa towns by the lawyer Louis Bouloumié, who after the discovery of a spring on his land founded the Société Générale des Eaux Minérales de Vittel. The opening of the Longes-Vittel-Nancy railway line in 1881 made the town directly accessible by train and caused a rapid influx of cure guests. Around the springs a park developed that eventually reached 650 hectares, with constructions by architects such as Charles Garnier, Fernand César and Auguste Bluysen. The entire ensemble was classified as a Monument Historique in 1990. This card shows a fragment of everyday spa life in the interwar period, probably the 1920s or 1930s, when the folding chair along the walking paths formed the central setting for conversations, newspaper reading and the prescribed rest between treatments.