Royan, France Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Before World War II, ROYAN , at the mouth of the Gironde, was a fashionable resort for the bourgeoisie. It's still popular – though no longer exclusive – and the modern town has lost its elegance to the dreary rationalism of 1950s town planning: broad boulevards, car parks, shopping centres, planned greenery. Ironically, the occasion for this planners' romp was provided by Allied bombing, an attempt to dislodge a large contingent of German troops who had withdrawn into the area after the D-Day landings. But the beaches – the most elegant and fashionable of which is in the suburb of … more »