French Ghost Town Deserted For 40 years - Thanks To Charles De Gaulle Airport

A commercial aeroplane flies over an abandoned 19th century manor in Goussainville-Vieux Pays. The ruin of the town is owed equally to modernisation and tragedy. In 1973, during the Paris Air Show, an aircraft crashed in the village, smashing into a row of 15 houses and a thankfully empty school. All six members of the crew on the plane perished and eight people on the ground were also killed. When the airport opened just a year later, residents fled, fearing an increase in plane crashes.

Bookseller Nicolas Mahieu poses inside his bookshop in Goussainville-Vieux Pays. Days go by without a customer in his over-stocked shop, but he supports himself by selling over the internet

A vintage postcard from 1915 shows the cafe "Au Paradis" in its heyday. Punters pose outside the establishment and the facade is decorated with two potted plants.

The run-down cafe "Au Paradis" (in Heaven"), its sign and paintwork faded over time

A letter box and a "Beware of the dog" sign are seen on a gate to an abandoned house yahoo

Thanks Claire Thompson