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tour DE FrancE 2017 EymEt, VillE-Départ ! Press Kit June 2017 EymEt, VillE-Départ Du tour DE FrancE 2017 ! It was three years ago when the Tour de France Press Kit sped through Eymet in the driving rain. On the 12th of July, this year the town has been promoted to host the ‘depart’ of stage 11 of the ‘Grande Boucle', that takes the riders to Pau, hopefully this time under sunny skies! For this modest sized town of just 2,700 inhabi- tants, it is a tremendous opportunity for the community to come together to engage with the global audience of the Tour de France and to show the world what it has to offer. Press Kit - June 2017 texts Eymet Town Hall, communication department translation Linda Lovelock photo credits Au Fil du Temps association - P. Bacogne - C. Bor - Ph. Euilllet R. and G. Lallemant eyMet toWn Hall ContaCt 27, avenue de la Bastide • 24500 eymet tel 05 53 22 22 10 Mail [email protected] Web eymet-dordogne.fr in summary page 2 Press Kit Eymet Town Hall: contact 3 Prenez le temps d'Eymet ! 4 The good life in Eymet 5 Some notable Eymétois 6 Eymet, and its sense of history! 7 Eymet take the Tour! 8 Some pictures of Eymet Prenez le temps d’eymet ! Ten years ago, Eymet council invited some communication students to the Bastide to explore the town’s potential attractions and to suggest ways to promote it more widely. At the end of their stay they coined the slogan ‘Prenez le temps d’Eymet’, which was adopted as the town’s signature. They also suggested linking the name of the town with the various themes or events taking place to further promote its dynamic image. For example: ‘Eymet la culture’, or ‘Eymet le Tour’. A strAtegic position At just 25 km from Bergerac airport and railway station, on the southern edge of the Dordogne and near the Lot-et-Garonne, the strategic position of Eymet has helped it to build strong commercial, artisanal and social networks. The town is proud of its rurality, but equally aware of the advantage gained by being within 30-40 km of three major motorways (A89, A62 and A65). Eymet is halfway between the two major tourist attractions of Saint-Émilion and Sarlat. It’s a stone’s throw from Bergerac and the valley of the Dordogne (a UNESCO biosphere reserve) and last but not least, a little more than an hour's drive from Bordeaux, a city classified by UNESCO as a world heritage site and capital of Aquitaine; a region whose history, architectural treasures and wine heritage have enticed visitors for centuries! 3 • • • Eymet, ville-départ du Tour de France 2017 • • • PrEss kiT the good life in eymet Eymet is deeply rooted in the South-West of France; a commission in partnership with local associations, region where ‘good living’ is part and parcel of every- whereas the cinema is provided in conjunction with day life, and where French is spoken with just a hint a local business. This space has become a hub for of the Occitan accent. The good life enjoyed here is cultural activities in the town but also has an outreach the result of a blend of many aspects, from the infra- role for the arts through the many events organised structure and facilities, its history, culture, social, throughout the year. religious and migratory diversity, plus a generous sports And leisure • The people of Eymet partici- addition of sports and leisure activities, a festive spirit pate in many sporting activities, such as judo, and conviviality; all framed against the back drop cycling, dancing, football, gymnastics and swim- of an unspoilt landscape, where farmers and wine ming, but there is no doubt that the main sport is makers produce the quality products that the region is rugby, followed a very close second by cricket! famous for. Eymet is indeed one of the very rare cities of the South-West of France to boast its own cricket FAcilities • A health centre, swimming pool and club, which hosts matches in the local stadium sports grounds (including one for cricket!), cinema, throughout the summer. theatre; a variety of shops; a nursery and leisure cen- tre; a full range of accommodation including gîtes and diversity • Eymet is a diverse and multi-cultural guest houses, camping, a hotel and a holiday village. town that welcomes people from all over. The town has both Catholic and Protestant churches. Its the economy • A few decades ago the major diversity comes from a long history of migration economic activity in the town and surrounding area going back as far as the Middle Ages. From the early was canning. Its success was in part due to the 20th Century Eymet has opened its arms to the combination of an abundance of local produce and Bretons, Italians, Spaniards and those from the the dynamism and expertise of the artisanal preservers Alsace, escaping poverty or persecution. In recent of Eymet. decades, it has become the adopted homeland of very Today, there are about 1,000 jobs in Eymet covering a many Britons who declare themselves happy to share range of activities, including the canning industry, the life of these 'snail-eaters'! which still has a place in the town. preserved lAndscApes And quAlity products • eymet’s heritAge • Eymet’s architectural heritage The countryside around Eymet has certainly been is varied and well preserved. It includes the layout cultivated by man, but with a sensitivity and and buildings of the medieval bastide, rural architec- versatility that has shaped pleasant spaces where it is ture, water works, Roman bridges and the old metal good to wander. This fertile soil produces an abun- bridge of the ‘generation Eiffel’ that traverses the dance of quality products that you can find on the River Dropt. More broadly Eymet’s cultural heritage, market stalls on Thursday morning or on all the in the form of the handicrafts and industries of good tables of Eymet. Local products include beef yesteryear, can be seen in many aspects of everyday from the Blonde d’Aquitaine or Salers cattle, lamb, life. All this is against the backdrop of the unspoilt farm pork or poultry, goat’s cheese, fruit (plums, and harmonious landscapes. hazelnuts, apples or walnuts), market produce; and For the visitor, these riches can be explored by of course the excellent wines of the Bergerac following the guided trails in the bastide and in the appellation, where organic wines now account for Pays d'Eymet. 20% of production. sociAl networks And AssociAtions • The fifty or so voluntary associations in Eymet and surrounding areas play an important part in everyday life, from cultural and social activities to sports and leisure, and help to make the town a lively place to live. culture • A variety of cultural activities take place at the ‘Espace Culturel’, a comfortable and versatile venue with a capacity of 400, that can be adapted to suit all forms of entertainment. The artistic programme is developed by the town hall’s cultural 4 • • • Eymet, ville-départ du Tour de France 2017 • • • PrEss kiT some notable eymétois JeAn-bAptiste moyne, or lemoyne This composer was born in Eymet on April 3rd, 1751 and died in Paris on December 30th, 1796. He was credited with composing fifteen operas, among them Phaedra, presented at the Chateau de Fontainebleau in 1786, and Nephte, which was performed in December 1789 at the Opéra de Paris. JeAn victorieux This notable pharmacist practiced in Eymet in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the genius inventor of the Spécifique Victorieux, a balm that was supposed to 'radically heal corns’ and which was adopted for many years by the French army! gAbriel Forestier This sculptor was born on the 18th November 1889 in Eymet and died on the 24th May 1969 in Paris. He created the war memorials of Eymet, Ducey and La Force, then that of Bergerac, before changing his style. Later works included the bust of Eugène Le Roy in Montignac, a great fountain in Chicago, bas-relief of the facade of the Musée des Colonies in Paris (the current Museum of the History of Immigration), the bronze door of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and also La Messagère (gardens of Luxembourg in Paris). 5 • • • Eymet, ville-départ du Tour de France 2017 • • • PrEss kiT eymet, and its sense of history! the 'Trou des Anglais' (hole of the English) refers to a dip in the bed of the River Dropt where many The 'official' history of Eymet began in 1270 with enemy soldiers drowned in an attempt to escape the foundation of the bastide by the brother of King their pursuers. This was one of the rare French Saint-Louis, Alphonse de Poitiers. On the death of victories over the English during the Hundred his father-in-law, Raymond VII, Alphonse inherited Years' War, before the final victory of Castillon-la- large areas, including the Agenais, a region he Bataille on July 17, 1453. tried to control by ordering the construction of It should be noted in passing that the battle actually numerous bastides, the 'new towns of the Middle took place in the commune of Lamothe-Montravel, Ages'. (6km away) and not in Castillon itself! 80 years after the end of the Hundred Years War, th On June 28 , 1270, he enacted Eymet’s ‘charte de the region of Eymet was won over by Protestan- coutumes’, the code for civil, penal and tax mat- tism. The Queen of Navarre and her son Henri ters.

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