The French, during the mid-1890’s and their colonial days of Indochine, founded Dalat City. The area, located in the mountains of south central Vietnam, was founded by the the French physician, Dr. Alexander Yersin, who thought the fresh mountain air would be the ideal environment for a hill station and a European styled sanatorium, all to provide an escape from the heat and humidity of the Vietnamese plains.  The area was ideal as a retreat and was initially used for hunting, as “big game” including elephants and tigers still roamed the surrounding jungles. The construction for the spa resort began in 1905 on the Cam Ly River, which was dammed to form a lake as a focal point for the development, the area then totally devoid of buildings.  This planned community included a residence on top of the hill for its mayor, a golf course, a sports arena and resort facilities. The Lycee Yersin, now Dalat College, was built with a medieval styled tower; the Petit Lycee, or junior high school was sited below. The lower part of the town was devoted to the residences of administrators and teachers, with hotels built on both sides of the lakes. During the war years of the 1940’’s, the French Governor General, Admiral Jean Decoux, established his government in Dalat for six months of the year (until 1945). This move brought a major increase in the development of Dalat with the construction of 728  villas and two palaces. Although many of the early buildings in Dalat favored a variety of regional French architecture inspired by the development of Deauville and Le Touquet. Most of the villas built in the 1940’s building boom were designed by the same architecture firm, Leonard & Veysseres, who then favored the Art Deco style, which was at the peak of its trend. A market was built, and a cinema was added in the mid-1950’s. When Henry and I arrived from Saigon/HCMC by plane, we were astonished by the mountainous landscape, the cool, fresh air, and the European atmosphere. Our first impressions compared this area of Vietnam to Baden-Baden in Germany, or Lucerne in Switzerland, and even Alsace in France. The community’s central focus on a lake, the tall pine trees, and the little swan paddle boats for honeymooners, brought nostalgic Europe to us, right in the heart of Asia. We enjoyed touring the area by foot and by taxi, and were especially happy to see the French styled villas on Than Hung Dao Street, a hillside residential area with views of the lake. The radio tower resembled a petite Tour Eiffel, and a cathedral, with stained glass windows imported from France, faced the lake. We enjoyed breakfast each morning at Café de la Poste, a charming French styled building with garden courtyard, which originally housed the post office in Dalat. On cool and sparkling evenings, we pretended we were in France as we dined at the Dalat Palace Hotel, where continental cuisine, French wines, and a 19th century European ambience pervaded.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. French styled villa overlooking the lake. 2. Dalat Train Station, c. 1936, an imitation of the train station in Deauville, France. 3. Ornamental gardens near the lake. 4. Swan paddle boats available for rent, a favorite of Vietnamese honeymooners.  Center, Top: Dalat City’s radio tower, mimicking the Tour Eiffel in Paris. Center, Bottom: View of Lake Xuan Huong with Mount Laing Bian in the background. Right Column: 1. French styled villa c. 1940’s  overlooking the lake. 2. Dalat City’s administrative buildings overlooking the lake.  3. Café de la Poste, a former post office in Dalat City. 4. View of Xuan Huong Lake in the center of Dalat City.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE