From July 2005 to July 2006, he was a visiting researcher at the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA), Rocquencourt, France, on sabbatical from Princeton.
INRIA has 8 research centers (in Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Nancy, Paris-Rocquencourt, Rennes, Saclay, and Sophia Antipolis) and also contributes to academic research teams outside of those centers.
SHAPE was installed at Rocquencourt, and Saint Germain-en-Laye was chosen as the place of residence for the serving officers and their families.
SHAPE was established at Rocquencourt, west of Paris, until 1966, when French president Charles de Gaulle withdrew French forces from the alliance.
Rebuilt after the war as a joint civilian airport/NATO facility, the primary use of Orly Air Base was to meet the needs of personnel supporting Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Rocquencourt, with secondary functions as a personnel processing center for inbound and outbound personnel assigned to France and as a limited operational transport base.
At the time of his death from a serious illness, Philippe Flajolet was a research director (senior research scientist) at INRIA in Rocquencourt.
After the defeat of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, Grouchy's army withdrew to Paris via Namur and Dinant, reaching Paris on 29 June, a few days before the Prussians, who camped at Versailles.
On 1 July 1815, Napoleon's Grande Armée fought its last battle in Rocquencourt and Le Chesnay, when Strolz' 2nd Cavalry Division, three battalions of the 44th Line Infantry Regiment, and a half battalion of the Sèvres National Guard hunted down Oberstleutnant Eston von Sohr's Prussian cavalry brigade, wrecking the 3rd Brandenburg and 5th Pommeranian Hussar Regiments.