33^rd Global
Conference of ICSW
Tours, France, June 30th to July 4th

Tours is located in the Western centre part of France. The biggest city in the region, it has a population of 142 000 inhabitants within an urban area of 260 000 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are named “Tourangeaux”. The Loire River runs through Tours, which is listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO, notably thanks to its cathedral (picture).

The Touraine is the French region whose economic centre is Tours. The Loire River and its tributaries, the Cher and the Indre, run through this area that belongs to the Paris Basin.The Touraine is famous for its numerous wines. By high speed train (TGV), it takes only one hour to travel from Paris to Tours. As a result, the Touraine has become a residential area for people who work in Paris yet long for a provincial quality of life.

The Touraine was named after a Gallic tribe, the Turones. It is nicknamed “the garden of France” since the end of the XVth century. The Plantagenet dynasty lived there in the XIIth century, as well as a number of French kings during the Hundred Years war and the Renaissance. Consequently, the Touraine is famous for its castles and palaces, such as Chenonceau, Amboise, Blois, Chambord et Cheverny.

In addition of kings, prominent people lived there as well: Rabelais, Descartes, Balzac… even Leonardo de Vinci. He was burried in the manor of the Clos Lucé in Amboise, where he spent the three last years of his life. Forty of his inventions have been recreated there.





Chenonceau Castle











How to go there?

From Paris, you can go to Tours by normal train or high speed train (TGV); the trip with the latter lasts only 1 hour and 10 minutes.

In Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, you can take a TGV that will take you directly to Tours. There are about 5 trains a day. The trip can be as short as 1 hour and 30 minutes.

You can also reach Tours by plane.

For more information,please check:

www.voyages-sncf.com for trains;

www.tours.aeroport.fr for planes.