Veules-les-Roses is nestled along the smallest river in France (3,917 ft / 1,194 m). Its typical Norman mills and old houses attracted artists in the 19th century, starting with Anaïs Aubert, an actress from the Comédie-Française. She invited actors, politicians like Alexandre Millerand (President of the Republic), journalists like René Viviani (L'Humanité), and writers such as Alexandre Dumas fils and Victor Hugo. The latter even offered a grand banquet to the children of the village in 1882. The Russian painter Alexei Bogoliubov also attracted the best painters from the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg.