Tours Tourism
Indre-et-Loire (37)
Center - Loire Valley
78-82,
rue Bernard Palissy
B.P. 4201,
37000 TOURS
Phone : 02 47 70 37 37
Fax : 02 47 61 14 22
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Tours is a city in France, the préfecture (capital city) of the Indre-et-Loire département.
The city lies on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast.
Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines and for the perfection of its local spoken French.
It is also the site of the cycling race Paris-Tours. More>>
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with thousands of French Services Local Attractions - Places to Visit
- Cathedral of Tours More>>
- Jardin public central park
- Place Plumereau, Medieval buildings
History
The name of the city comes from the ancient Gallic tribe called the Turones. In Roman times it was known as Turonensis. The modern name, Tours, coincidentally corresponds to the French word tours, "towers". More>>
Access / Local Transportation
Today, with its extensive rail (including TGV) and autoroute links to the rest of the country, Tours is a jumping off point for tourist visits to the Loire Valley and the chateaux of the kings. More>>
Language
The inhabitants of Tours (Tourangeaux) are renowned for speaking the purest form of French in the entire country.
The pronunciation of Touraine is widely regarded as the most perfect pronunciation of the French language, devoid of any accent (in opposition to most other regions of France, including Paris).
Population
The center of Tours has a population of 137,000.
Famous People
Tours was the birthplace of:
- Nâdiya (1973), a famous singer
- Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), novelist
- Berengarius of Tours (999-1088), theologian
- Bernard of Tours (fl. 1147, d. before 1178), philosopher and poet
- Yves Bonnefoy (born 1923), poet
- Abraham Bosse (1604-1676), artist
- Georges Courteline (1858-1929), dramatist and novelist
- Emile Delahaye (1843-1905), automobile pioneer
- Philippe Néricault Destouches (1680-1754), dramatist
- Jean Fouquet (1420-1481), painter
- Gabriel Lamé (1795-1870), mathematician
- Philippe de Trobriand (1816-1897), author, American military officer
- Louise de la Vallière (1644-1710), courtesan
Credits
: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Tours".
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